Adam D. Kemper

"The greatest failure in life is to stop trying." - Napoleon Hill

I believe that if you have the will and want to be great, you have to appreciate the hard work or the process of getting there.

I can't remember when, but my mother jokingly said, "why don't you be a lawyer."

I listened and made that my goal. I learned that the best way to achieve success, is try is to and learn from other success stories.

Fortunately for me, I did not have to look far for role models. I have two uncles, a cousin and a close family friend who, as lawyers, have made it a priority to become the best in their respective fields of practice. After speaking with them prior to making my decision to go to law school, I realized two things: One, I would never be content being an ordinary attorney and Two, I had to find a particular legal specialty in which I could succeed.

When I was accepted into Florida State University, there was no pre-law major. So I was advised to take Literature or Political Science, because both were common majors among law students. I decided to take both. I graduated cum laude and although some might classify that as an accomplishment, I classified it as a "step." One thing my father always told me is to "never be content, you can always accomplish more."

My next "step" was Florida International University College of Law. I chose FIU because it was a new school filled with potential, and with students forced to over-achieve in order to stand out in a city filled with law firms dominated by students from more well-known schools.

Initially, without having a particular direction in terms of legal specialty, I sought out different internship opportunities. My first opportunity was at the United States Attorneys Office, Miami Division. Because the office had never accepted an FIU student before, I made it a point to not only be the first, but to make sure future FIU students would be welcomed into their program in the future. During my internship, I worked in the Civil Division, researching various issues from Medical Malpractice, Title VII claims, negligence, and even collection issues. Additionally, the Office pushed us to go watch trials in the federal courts.

During the summer of my second year, I interned with Hon. Ivan F. Fernandez, a judge in the Family Division of Miami-Dade County Circuit Court. I spent a considerable amount of time attending court proceedings and learning - both from watching and listening to the attorneys and from observing the judge's reaction in the courtroom. Judge Fernandez also arranged time for me to work with other judges in different divisions to get a different exposure to other types of law. I spent a lot of time watching and learning and picking these judges' brains.

Next, I competed and earned a spot onto the Law Review by way of the writing competition because "that's what employers are looking for."

In the Fall of my third and final year of law school I decided to take a course entitled, "employment discrimination law." I quickly found myself exceptionally interested in the material. I found myself leading many of the classroom discussions and meeting with the professor to learn about more intricate details of the law. My interest and effort earned me the top grade in the course.

In the spring, an opportunity at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission became available. I thought it would be a perfect fit to further my education in employment discrimination. During the internship, I investigated claims involving various employment discrimination issues. I also reviewed local and state agency determinations when the complainant requested an appeal of the determination. My experience at the EEOC gave me a sound understanding of the local unemployment climate.

At graduation, I finished fifth in my class. Based on my performance in the employment discrimination class and at the EEOC internship, I was privileged to be recognized as the top "Labor and Employment law student," and received an award and scholarship from the Florida Bar Labor and Employment Law Section.

Since June 2010, I have been working at Amlong & Amlong, P.A, a firm that specializes in workplace discrimination, and I have been under the tutelage of Karen and Bill Amlong, pioneers in the practice of employment law and perfect examples of individual success stories.

I look forward to continuing to learn what it takes to be great and will make sure I provide each and every client with nothing but my upmost respect, energy and effort because I know that the measure of success as an attorney is based on the results you are able to provide for your client.