Vanessa Beary to lead Tulane Law's Career Development Office

Vanessa Beary (NC '98), an experienced litigator, law professor and career adviser, has been named Tulane Law School’s Assistant Dean for Career Development.

Beary, who has served for the past five years as a counselor in Tulane’s Career Development Office, specializing in assisting students interested in judicial clerkships and sports law, has a strong understanding of both the needs of law students and the issues in the national legal markets.

Beary, a native of New Orleans whose family is from Cuba, joined Tulane Law in 2018. She practiced law for 12 years with two major law firms in San Francisco and with one of New Orleans’ largest private firms, where she practiced appellate and trial court litigation on a range of complex business issues, including employment discrimination and compensation matters and insurance coverage disputes. 

A graduate of Tulane University and of the University of California-Hastings College of Law, Beary was recruited back to UC-Hastings after a decade of private practice in the Bay Area to serve as Associate Director of LLM Advising and as an Adjunct Professor teaching Legal Research and Writing. 

During law school, Beary studied international and comparative law in the Netherlands and served as a judicial extern for U.S. District Judge Martin Jenkins in the Northern District of California. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New Orleans chapter of the Federal Bar Association and also teaches legal research and writing at Tulane.

Beary succeeds Dean Lezlie Griffin, who occupied a special dual role as Assistant Dean for Career Development and Diversity Initiatives.  The law school restructured the role following Dean Griffin’s departure, creating two separate deanships, one dedicated to career development and a new deanship dedicated exclusively to equity, diversity and inclusion.  Beary was selected as Assistant Dean for Career Development after a national search, and a separate search for the law school’s inaugural Assistant Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion is nearing completion.

As part of the reorganization, the law school created another new position to support students, Director of Academic Success.  Following a national search, the law school named Laura Page to the role.  As Director of Academic Success, Page will counsel and assist students to ensure their academic success in the classroom and in preparation for their careers after graduation.  She will also develop initiatives to assist students with preparation for state bar exams.

Page is a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and a magna cum laude graduate of Georgia State University with a Master of Education in Behavioral and Learning Disabilities.  She has worked for almost a decade in education, serving as a special education teacher, a special education advocate, the School Director for ReNEW Therapeutic Programs in New Orleans, and even an Assistant Principal in the Middle School setting.  She is deeply passionate about educational equity and developing curriculum to help all diverse learners achieve rigorous academic goals. 

“We are delighted to welcome Vanessa Beary and Laura Page to these important new roles,” said Dean David Meyer.  “They each bring rich experience and energy and, together, they will work to help position our students for a successful launch of their professional careers.”