Get to know a little more about Lily Pedersen, an associate attorney at Fowler St. Clair.
Early Years and Family
I was born and raised near Brighton in the United Kingdom by my American mother and a Norwegian father. Growing up, my mum liked to blend our cultures. Although we lived in the U.K., we celebrated the 4th of July. We had fireworks in the garden and an American flag on our front door which, looking back, was a little bold.
I attended an all-girls boarding school from the ages of 4-18 which I loved. It instilled in me that women belong in all career fields and there are no barriers. I was Head Girl, which I can only explain if you have seen/read Harry Potter.
College and Law School
I attended the University of Birmingham, UK. My third year of undergrad was spent at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY as part of a year abroad program. Everyone finds it funny that I went to Kentucky, but Louisville is now one of my favorite places!
Family Law Internship
During my time in Kentucky, I interned for a family court judge who inspired me to go to law school. I enjoyed seeing how the judge made decisions and what she picked up on or focused on. I also saw many parties choose to represent themselves and observed the difficulties that were presented.
It was clear that a lack of experience with court procedures or lack of expertise in understanding and applying the law made self-representation very challenging. Family court demonstrates how the law touches your life in so many ways and it made me want to have a deeper understanding and knowledge of the law.
I would wake up extremely early to get a bus and walk to the courthouse and I was still excited to go every morning. As someone who is not a morning person, I took this as a good sign that I should pursue law as a career. I signed up for the LSAT and the rest is history.
Law School in Arizona
I chose to attend Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law because it was quite highly ranked. I was fortunate to receive a good scholarship and I love the sunshine.
As the first in my family to attend college and then move across the world to do so, law school was a bit of a culture shock.
However, I love to learn so I enjoyed that aspect of law school immensely. I focused on gaining practical experience and interned as much as possible. I was fortunate to experience a broad range of legal fields and gain a lot of different experiences and perspectives.
Life and Hobbies
Outside of work, my interests are reformer pilates, seeing friends and traveling.
I visited 57 countries by the time I was 25, approximately half of them I visited solo.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 struck; three years later, I have only increased that to 58. My family still lives in the UK, and I try to visit as much as possible.
Firm Life
I was lucky to join Fowler St. Clair after graduating in 2020 amid the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. In addition to working on cases, I spend my time at Fowler St. Clair trying to convince the partners to adopt a firm dog and provide a European amount of vacation. So far, I have not been successful. However, I was able to get a mini cow to visit the office.
Learn more about Lily Pedersen in her bio here.