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OCS Staff Bios
Karen Sargent, Esq., Assistant Dean and Director of Career Services
email: kcsargent@smu.edu
phone: 214/768-2797
Karen Sargent joined SMU Dedman School of Law as Assistant Dean and Director of the Office of Career Services in June 2004. Karen oversees the daily operations of the office, developing and implementing policies and procedures, authoring career education resources and programs, conducting employer outreach and counseling students and alumni. She serves as the principle contact to local and national law firms and other potential employers.
From 1985 to 2000, before joining the Office of Career Services, she served as a part-time faculty member at the law school, teaching courses in Legal Research, Writing & Advocacy and the practical skills course, Lawyering. In 2003, she returned to SMU Dedman School of Law as an Assistant Director of Admissions, where she assisted in the admission of the first entering class of the Evening Program.
Karen earned her Bachelor of Business Administration degree with high honors from SMU in 1977 and her Juris Doctor from SMU in 1979. She served on the Board of Editors of the Southwestern Law Journal. After graduating, she practiced tax and corporate/securities law as an associate with the Houston office of Andrews Kurth LLP.
Professionally, Karen is a member of the National Association for Law Placement, the American Bar Association and the Dallas Bar Association. She works closely with the J.L. Turner Legal Association, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association and the Dallas Asian American Bar Association. In addition to her position as Assistant Dean, Karen has served on the community boards of a number of local non-profit organizations, and is currently on the Board of Camp John Marc, a camp for critically ill children.
Jennifer H. Pope, Esq. Associate Director
email: jpope@smu.edu
phone: 214/768-2622
Jennifer Pope joined the Office of Career Services as Associate Director in October of 2004. She primarily counsels full-time J.D. students on job search strategies and career-related decision making and serves as the liaison to law alumni.
Additionally, she organizes programs that focus on skills necessary for professional and career development and authors resource materials concentrating on skill-building. With regard to employer outreach, she is responsible for outreach to medium and small firms, as well as developing relationships with Texas firms outside the DFW Metroplex.
She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Texas A&M University in 1997. Before attending law school, she worked as a defined benefit consultant for Hewitt Associates, an international employee benefits and human resources consulting firm. Jennifer earned her Juris Doctor from SMU Dedman School of Law in 2002. While attending law school, Jennifer served as Associate Managing Editor of The International Lawyer. Prior to joining the Office of Career Services, Jennifer practiced corporate/securities law as an associate in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight LLP, where she was also a member of the firm’s recruiting committee.
Outside of her primary duties as Associate Director, Jennifer is a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, and The National Association for Legal Career Professionals.
Tennessee Nielsen, Esq. Associate Director
email:tnielsen@smu.edu
phone: 214/768-4049
Tennessee Nielsen joined the Office of Career Services in August 2007. She serves as counselor to part-time, J.D. Evening Program students and all LL.M. candidates: Tax, General and International. She is responsible for creating the services and programs for each of these student groups and assisting in developing job leads for students and graduates. Tennessee serves as liaison to student organizations and organizes programs that focus on educating students about the many areas in which to practice law. With her Co-Associate Director, she is responsible for outreach to medium and small firms, as well as developing relationships and opportunities in the DFW corporate legal market.
Tennessee earned her Juris Doctor from SMU in 1980 and her A.B. in Philosophy cum laude from Sweet Briar College in 1976. After graduating, she went in-house with Otis Engineering Corporation, an affiliate of Halliburton. Tennessee continued to practice with Dallas area companies, serving as General Counsel of Micrografx, Inc. through its IPO in 1990. She also practiced intellectual property as Of Counsel with the Dallas office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Prior to joining the Office of Career Services, Tennessee was consulting with early-stage companies.
Beth D. Lee, Assistant Director, Recruiting and Events
email: beth@smu.edu
phone: 214/768-4065
Beth Lee joined the Office of Career Services as a Career Counselor in August 2002 and was promoted to Assistant Director in October 2004. She facilitates all law school recruiting programs, including the On- and Off-Campus Interview Programs for law firms, government agencies and public interest employers, and she manages school and student participation in regional job fairs. She also coordinates the arrangements of all career services events, including legal seminars, workshops, the Dallas Bar Foundation Collins Clerkship Program and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers Judicial Internship Program. Beth is responsible for maintaining Symplicity, the web-enabled recruiting site for law students and legal professionals, as well as the website for the Office of Career Services.
Before joining the Office of Career Services, she earned her Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing from SMU in 1985. She later worked in sales and marketing for Fortune 500 companies including IBM, Electronic Data Systems, Lotus Development Corp., KPMG and for the international law firm of Baker Botts as Manager of Client Relations.
Outside of her primary duties as Assistant Director, she serves on the Board of Directors for the Sunbelt Minority Recruitment Program and the Texas Off-Campus Recruitment Program and has served on the Board for the Southeastern Minority Job Fair. Beth is a member of the National Association for Legal Career Professionals and a Dallas Business Committee for the Arts Leadership Arts Graduate. Other affiliations include the American Marketing Association, Legal Marketing Association, Professional Services Marketing Association, Community Affairs Council, and Dallas Contributors Network.