Texas native Ashlyn Smith ’28E has lived in New York City for seven years working on the management side of Broadway and off-Broadway productions. After seeing how employees’ rights can be violated in the theater industry, she was inspired to go to law school with the goal of using her law degree to protect workers.
What is your hometown, and where did you go to college?
I am originally from Houston, Texas, but have lived in New York City for seven years. I have two undergraduate degrees—a B.S. in management and a B.A. in theater design and production from Purdue University—as well as an M.B.A., also from Purdue.
What was your journey that led you to apply to law school?
In my MBA program, I took every law class that was available to me and that was fine for a long time. In my career, I work daily with CBAs (Collective Bargaining Agreements) and general employment law issues, and I have seen how employees can be adversely affected by management decisions, even having their employee rights violated. After feeling useless for quite some time, I have decided to be a part of making things better.
What made you choose Fordham Law?
What drew me to Fordham Law was not only its reputation, but also the evening division. The choice to give up a career that I have been working on for a decade and go back to school at the age of 30 was very scary. The fact that I can make it more of a transition out of what I have been doing into this new opportunity while also mitigating the costs of law school by still being able to work made the idea of law school far less intimidating.
What do you hope to do with your law degree in the future?
At this moment, I am planning on going into union-side labor law. I am a proud member of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers. It is a local of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that represents most employees on a theatrical production who are not on stage as well as several groups of employees in television, film, and game development. I love that labor issues are not limited to just things that happen in the workplace—they extend out to gender/racial equity, caregiver rights, reproductive rights, issues of work-life balance, and so much more that affects how a person interacts with our capitalism-based society.
What is something interesting about you that people may not know?
In my day job, I manage the day to day business operations of Broadway and off-Broadway productions. During my 1L year, I am opening a new off-Broadway musical. I also am a big sports fan and went to the Olympics in Paris as a “last hurrah” before starting law school.
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