Kristen A. Lee

2020 Pegasus Scholar

Mind the Gap: Navigating your Legal Career

In early March 2020, I was selected as a Pegasus Scholar. Mere days later, the Covid-19 pandemic gripped the globe and life as we had known it quickly grinded to a near halt. My excitement about my selection as a 2020 Pegasus Scholar was dimmed by the fear that my scholarship would become a casualty of the pandemic. Fortunately, the American Inns of Court deferred my scholarship until 2021. Though the remnants of the Covid-19 pandemic linger, the scholarship proceeded cautiously, but without sacrifice. I found the blessing in my scholarship being “deferred not denied,” which afforded me an invaluable perspective on my time in London as a Pegasus Scholar.

When I applied and was selected for the 2020 Pegasus Scholarship, I was serving as a judicial law clerk at the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal – a position that I had held since January 2017. In the span from the award of my 2020 scholarship to the start of the program in 2021, I had transitioned to a new role as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of New Orleans. My work shifted from legal research and writing to litigation, which are markedly different skillsets. My time in London offered me an opportunity to pause and reflect on my transition from judicial appellate law clerk to litigator, from young lawyer to midcareer lawyer.

My daily commute into “Legal London” on the London Underground, affectionately referred to as “the tube” – a moniker derived from the shape of the tunnel through which the train cars travel, offered me an opportunity to pause and reflect. I contemplated not just my career transition and trajectory, but also studied the  people and places in hopes of becoming a “proper Londoner” in six weeks’ time. After just one ride on the tube, you are sure to hear the incessant reminder to “Mind the Gap.” This reminder seems unnecessary until you encounter certain stations where the curved path creates a massive gap between the train car and the platform edge; in such an instance, you are forced to think about the gap.

I learned to navigate London via the tube, and I also learned to navigate Legal London – home to all four Inns of Court (Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln’s Inn, and Gray’s Inn), the chambers (akin to American law firms), courts (most notably the Royal Courts of Justice), legal bookstores, shops that outfitted barristers with wigs and gowns, and more coffee shops than you can count. I began my stint in chambers at 1 Crown Office Row. I had the absolute privilege of being hosted by a former British Pegasus Scholar, Jonathan Metzer, a bright, young barrister with such zeal for the profession and practice of law. I had the opportunity to accompany Jonathan to a meeting with a solicitor and client in South London, which helped me to understand firsthand how solicitors and barristers work in tandem to achieve the best outcome for their client. Working with Jonathan reinvigorated my own love for the profession and practice of law.

Next, I was hosted at 12 King’s Bench Walk by William Audland, QC, the head of chambers. Decades into his career, William has maintained his passion for mentoring young barristers. We shared countless conversations comparing and contrasting United Kingdon and Louisiana law. These first two weeks in chambers represented bookends of a legal career, which fueled my own musing about my recent career transition and desired trajectory. I know where my career started and I know where I would like for it to finish, but I remained unsure of “the gap” or the middle part of my career.

The whole of the scholars spent the following week at the United Kingdom Supreme Court paired with the justices and their judicial assistants (the British counterpart to a judicial law clerk); I had the honor of being hosted by the Right Hon Lord Sales. In addition to observing the proceedings in court, we had the august opportunity to meet with the justices individually to discuss the proceedings, which provided unparalleled understanding of the United Kingdom’s highest court. I relished this opportunity to get back to my own judicial law clerk roots. In addition to this bit of nostalgia, I received an unexpected gem in my musings on “mind[ing] the gap.” At the culmination of our week at the United Kingdom Supreme Court, the justices hosted a reception and dinner for the scholars. At that reception, I engaged in a conversation with the Right Hon Lord Reed of Allermuir and the Right Hon Lady Rose of Colmworth. I shared my recent transition from law clerk to litigator, and Lady Rose shared with me her career path. Lady Rose recounted that she was spurred by an advertisement in a tube station to change paths in her career; the advertisement read “when climbing the ladder of success, make sure your ladder is leaned against the right wall.” Lady Rose astutely summarized that it is what is in the middle [of your career] that matters. Serendipitously, this conversation happened in the middle of my time in London and continued to resonate with me. As a result of this conversation, I reflected more deeply on both my career transition … as well as my daily commute on the tube.

The mundane features of the tube seemed symbolic of my career journey. “Mind the gap” was a reminder that “it is what is in the middle that matters”—the career that unfolds in the between young lawyer and senior lawyer matters and it is important to be fulfilled. Like the tube map, there is always more than one tube stop—or job—that will put you closest to your destination. Finally, if you find that you are traveling in the wrong direction – on the tube or in your career, follow the signs that that read “way out,” change tubes lines – jobs or career paths, and enjoy the ride to your final stop—the culmination of your career. 

With Gratitude

I am grateful beyond measure to have had this unique opportunity to pause and reflect on life, on career, and on my purpose. I returned home refreshed, reinvigorated, and refocused on the profession and practice of law. I am grateful to have found the blessing in “deferred not denied.”

I am grateful to the American Inns of Court and the Pegasus Scholarship Trust for creating this unique and immersive opportunity for young lawyers and barristers. I appreciate the tireless work and commitment that Cindy Dennis puts into making this program both a dream and a reality. I shared my time in London with three amazing Pegasus Scholars—Larissa Lee, Anthony Franklin, and Matthew Zorn, with whom I have formed forever friendships.

I appreciate my gracious hosts in London: 1 Crown Office Row (especially, Jonathan Metzer); 12 King’s Bench Walk (especially, William Audland, QC); the United Kingdom Supreme Court (especially, the Right Hon Lord Sales and his judicial assistant, Jake); Temple Garden Chambers (especially, Charles Curtis and Emma-Jane Hobbs).

I am thankful for my friends in my Inn—the St. Thomas More Inn of Court in New Orleans, Louisiana—for their support, encouragement, and opportunities to grow within the Inn. 

Finally, I thank my family for supporting my dreams no matter how far from home those dreams may lead.


Kristen A. Lee, Esquire, is a judicial law clerk for the Louisiana Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans, and in this role has spent three years honing her research and writing skills while drafting criminal, civil, civil service, workers’ compensation, and juvenile writs, orders, and appeals. Before that, she served as a judicial law clerk in a state criminal trial court. As an undergraduate at Loyola University New Orleans, where she graduated summa cum laude in 2012, Lee studied political science. As a student at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, she took her interest in comparative law abroad, studying comparative law in Austria, studying comparative international law in Greece, and participating in the European Union Field Study, visiting European Union institutions in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. She received young alumna of the year awards from both her college and her high school. She is an associate member of the Thomas More Loyola Law School American Inn of Court in New Orleans.