Our Fall Alumni Spotlight Features Alex Gillett, J.D. 2012!
Alex Gillett graduated from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2012 with a concentration in Civil Advocacy and Dispute Resolution. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Gillette worked on the Obama Campaign in 2008. Ms. Gillett did not always know she wanted to attend law school and thought that she would eventually become a social worker. Later, however, she discovered that her skills in advocacy and policy better suited her for a career as a lawyer.
In 2009, Ms. Gillett officially enrolled at Quinnipiac University School of Law and focused her time on learning about alternate dispute resolution. She found that dispute resolution appealed to her from a problem-solving perspective because it got to the root of the problem rather than arguing precedent or case law. Ms. Gillett took every ADR course offered at the time, joined the Society of Dispute Resolution (SDR) and was ultimately elected President of SDR. She also served as the Center’s first Student Fellow during the 2011-2012 academic year.
As the Center Student Fellow, she helped plan the 2013 John A. Speziale ADR Symposium; participated in the Connecticut Mediation Network, the forerunner to the Connecticut Mediation Association; served as student liaison to the Sections on Dispute Resolution of the American and Connecticut Bar Associations; chaired the ABA Representation in Mediation Regional Competition hosted that year by the Law School; and engaged in strategic planning for future center events. She credits these experiences as opening the door for her first permanent position in the Judicial Branch as a Housing Mediation Specialist.
Currently, Ms. Gillett works in Connecticut Superior Court Operations where she manages several programs, including several with an ADR focus. She began in the Judicial Branch as a TAC (temporary assistant clerk) before getting the Housing Mediation Specialist position. As a Housing Mediator, she was able to mediate thousands of landlord-tenant disputes relying on the skills she learned at QUSL in classes, the 40-hour mediation training class, and SDR competitions.
Presently, Ms. Gillett manages several programs and coordinates many of the Branch’s "Access to Justice" efforts. She focuses on long term planning, program design, and policy. While she no longer mediates cases, she uses her ADR skills daily when working with external stakeholders, judges, Judicial Branch staff, attorneys, and the public. She remains actively involved in the Connecticut Bar Association and supports the Connecticut Mediation Association.
When asked if she had any advice for students interested in a career in ADR, Ms. Gillett explained that mediation can take many different forms and the skills practiced through mediation, negotiation, client counseling, and even arbitration are universally applicable in any field. She also said that learning how to communicate effectively and persuasively will help you anywhere. Learning how to listen in order to understand, rather than simply to reply, is an incredibly powerful tool and important skill in any field. Finally, learning how to find common ground despite disparate viewpoints or experiences is nearly universally applicable in any field and is absolutely vital in our current political climate. To Ms. Gillett ADR as a skill set is so much larger than courses and competitions; it’s a whole new world view.
Ms. Gillett’s final piece of advice to law students was to get involved in activities both inside and outside the law school, because you never know which activity will open a door, introduce you to someone, or teach you something.