general, Higgins says “I am ecstatic to have a job in this economy, and so I make sure to share that attitude whenever I can. It’s important. I love working at Sony and I love the team of people that I am lucky enough to work with.” Before graduating from California
Western School of Law in 1997, Higgins had been hired as the San Diego deputy city attorney, where she prosecuted scores of misdemeanor cases and appeals, and handled 18 jury trials. After almost five years, she secured a position in Los Angeles as legal counsel at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American labor union representing film and televi- sion performers worldwide. (In 2012, SAG merged with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists [AFTRA] to create SAG- AFTRA.) Higgins says SAG was a good fit. Te union hired nimble prosecutors and public defenders who were comfortable juggling multiple
cases on short deadlines. At SAG, Higgins was involved in everything from huge residual claims on behalf of hundreds of actors to making a small claim for an actor whose cell phone was stolen on set. It was also at SAG that Higgins first developed a love of the video game industry. She was tasked with advising SAG in its video game contract negotiations (on behalf of the voiceover actors), and she was taken by the creativ- ity and intelligence of those on the other side of the table. Her curiosity was further piqued when she saw an opportunity with Sega of America, where she was hired in Los Angeles, and later promoted to director of legal for North America and corpo- rate secretary in San Francisco. At Sega, she oversaw the legal needs of all the Japanese-owned corporation’s subsidiaries in North America. “I was excited to learn more about technol- ogy, and I loved the Bay Area, but I was cold all the time!” So when the
opportunity to return to her warm and sunny home in San Diego and join the international entertainment giant Sony came up in 2008, she was delighted. Her career trajectory has been
intentional and well planned, though looking back Higgins thinks maybe some time spent at a firm would have been good for her. Looking forward, she greatly values her position and opportunities at Sony, and she wants to expand her speaking on diversity and tactics for making a workplace open and inclusive. Higgins, a recently married mother of two, says, “I’m determined to be the best at what I do, and I’m also very serious about work/life balance. Family means a lot to me.” At 17, Higgins came out to her
friends and family in her hometown, San Diego. “I was lucky. It wasn’t a harrowing experience for me. Tose who already loved and cared about me continued to do so.” And though
Hot Jobs Email Blast -- MCCA is pleased to send out an email blast of Hot Job announcements to our network on the last Friday of every month. As an exclusive membership benefi t, MCCA member companies, and MCCA FAN law fi rms, wishing to advertise their open positions to our diverse network may participate in MCCA’s Hot Jobs email blast. This service is provided in addition to the MCCA Job Bank, which allows users to post job announcements online to the MCCA website.
HotJOBS
Members, who would like to submit a job announcement to be included in the MCCA Hot Jobs email blast, should email Connie Swindell-Harding, Regional Coordinator, Southeast Region, at
connieharding@mcca.com to receive the requisite form. All forms must be submitted by 5:00 pm EST on the 20th of the month before the listings are to be sent.
Interested in becoming a Member of MCCA or a Firm Affi liate Network law fi rm? Contact David Chu, Director of Membership, at
davidchu@mcca.com or (202) 739-5906.
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