ITHACA, N.Y. -- Kimberly Taylor, J.D. '05, can barely remember a time when she wasn't planning to become a lawyer. "My father is an attorney, [so] the legal profession always seemed like a natural career path for me," she explained. Judging by her performance as a student at Cornell's Law School, it looks like she was right. 

Born and raised in Hawaii, Taylor attended Yale University, where she received a bachelor's degree in political science. She also served as Yale student body president and was an active member of Yale's Mock Trial and International Relations associations.

Global issues continue to be a passion for Taylor, who has focused heavily on international law during her time at Cornell. She attended the five-week Summer Institute of International and Comparative Law at the Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and served as editor-in-chief of the Cornell International Law Journal in 2004-05.

This year, the journal sponsored a symposium, "Milosevic and Hussein on Trial," that featured several talks and panel discussions examining the issues involved in trying former heads of state who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to Taylor, understanding international law has become a must for attorneys. "I think attorneys graduating 15 or 20 years ago, or even five or 10 years ago, had a choice of whether or not to practice international law," she said. However, due to increased globalization, "today's graduates don't have that choice," she explained. 

Along with her work for the international law journal, Taylor has been actively competing in Moot Court for three years, participating in competitions everywhere from Washington, D.C., to Vienna. In her opinion, Moot Court is a valuable, hands-on addition to traditional legal training. "We make doctors go through residency, but we let lawyers graduate from law school without [practical experience]," she said. "To me, that's not sufficient."

Following graduation, Taylor will be putting her practical experience to work as an associate litigator for the law firm of Morrison and Foerster in San Francisco. In the future, however, she hopes to work as a district attorney or assistant U.S. attorney.

Taylor believes that the things she will remember most about her time at Cornell are the relationships she formed here, both social and professional. For current law students, she offers this advice: "There are times when you're walking around with a cup of coffee at 3 a.m. with no end to work in sight. In those moments, it's important to remember that you have friends to back you up and share that cup of coffee with you."

Courtney Potts is an intern at the Cornell News Service.