Kristin Yemm '08 | Columbia Law School

Kristin Yemm

Kristin Yemm, a lifelong Midwesterner, came to New York City by way of London. The native of St. Louis, Missouri, attended the University of Notre Dame and thought she might like to live in an international city after a semester abroad in England’s capital.

The next year, as she applied to law schools, Columbia’s strength in corporate law drew Kristin, who majored in accounting at Notre Dame.

“I’ve always been interested in how companies do business,” she said. “Accounting is really the language of business, and that background has been valuable.”

While at the Law School Kristin served as a teaching assistant for Professors Susan Sturm and John Witt in their respective courses in Civil Procedure (Law School) and American Legal History (Columbia College). She had taken first-year classes with both Sturm and Witt, and she said they set high standards.

“I couldn’t have imagined a better introduction to Columbia,” Kristin said. “Professor Sturm knows she’s teaching a really difficult subject and cares so much about her students,” Kristin added. “She also really cares about how the rules of civil procedure impact people and justice; you’re not just memorizing the rule.”

Kristin also enjoyed the seminar in deals litigation, co-taught by two lecturers-in-law at Columbia who are partners at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where Kristin spent her 2L summer, and where she will work after graduation.