Some Of Facebook's First Users Work In Biglaw, But Where?

Thanks to some expert stalking, we now know that some of Facebook's first members became lawyers. Let's invade their privacy and find out about them!

Here’s a little fact that’ll make some of our readers feel old: Facebook, the world’s largest social media conglomerate, celebrated its ninth birthday yesterday. Being that it’s almost been around for a decade, the site’s been there with some of our younger readers throughout college, law school, bar exam hell, law jobs (or the lack thereof), engagements, weddings, babies, and more.

In celebration of Facebook’s birthday, the good people over at BuzzFeed did some stalking research on the site’s very first users, all 25 of them. As it turns out, some of them went on to become lawyers. But where did they go to law school, and which firms are they at today?

Let’s do something Facebook would never do — invade their privacy — and find out….

Only four of Facebook’s first 25 users decided to subject themselves to life in the law, but only one of them was lucky enough to get in before the bottom really fell out. Luckily, none of them seem to have been victims of Lathaming, despite the fact that many of them graduated into the worst entry-level legal job market in more than 20 years. Behold the power of graduating from the T14! Here they are, in order of their Facebook IDs:

Amie Broder (No. 25)

According to BuzzFeed, Amie Broder was two years ahead of Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard College. After graduation, she went on to study at NYU Law School (not to be confused with New York Law School) as a member of the class of 2007. Her LinkedIn page says her first job was at Simpson Thacher, and she remained at the firm for three years before lateraling out to Troutman Sanders. Man, talk about a downgrade. In late 2012, Broder was recognized as a “rising star” in tax law by Super Lawyers. A rising tax superstar? She must be a thrill at parties. Yawn…

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Ebonie Hazle (No. 18)

BuzzFeed notes that Ebonie Hazle went to Columbia Law School after she graduated from Harvard. A member of the CLS class of 2009, she went on to work a three-year stint at Gibson Dunn (“Gibson Dunne” per BuzzFeed, ha). Recently she decided to move in-house, and according to her LinkedIn page, she’s currently working as the acting associate general counsel at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Hazle is no stranger to the pages of Above the Law: the verdict came out in her favor in this edition of Legal Eagle Wedding Watch. She still goes by her maiden name, because who wouldn’t continue to go by a name like that?

Samyr Laine (No. 11)

After graduating from Harvard in 2006, Samyr Laine enrolled at Georgetown Law, receiving his juris doctor in 2010. Since then, Laine’s done some wonderful things with his life — BuzzFeed calls him “an accomplished triple jumper who competed for Haiti in the 2012 Olympics.” We profiled him in January 2012, and poked a little fun at him because he seemed to be relying on law as a “fallback” career of sorts. As we noted previously, we still hope there’s a legal market for him to fall back on when his legs give out. Unfortunately, there isn’t a medal for 11th place, so for now, he’ll have to toil in the law like regular attorneys who aren’t world-class athletes.

Colin Kelly (No. 6)

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Kelly enrolled at Columbia Law School and graduated in 2008, landing his first job at Paul Weiss, where he’s remained ever since. He’s also a tax associate, which seems to be the chosen practice area for nerds. The picture on his LinkedIn page seems to indicate that he likes backpacking. BuzzFeed also provided commentary on Kelly’s appearance in the pages of the New York Times, specifically, how he decorated his new apartment “on the cheap.” And for a Biglaw associate, “cheap” costs approximately $8,000. Speaking of cheap, we didn’t get around to covering Colin Kelly’s abode in our Lawyerly Lairs series because its purchase price — $572,000 — was too low for our luxurious tastes.

And there you have it, the four lawyers who got into the Facebook game before anyone knew it was going to be the next big thing. Graduating from respected law schools certainly has its perks: all four were able to blow the competition out of the water when it came to legal employment and media fame. Now that’s a great marketing tactic for legal education if we’ve ever seen one. It’s one that’s sure to get a thousand Facebook likes!

The First 25 People On Facebook [BuzzFeed]
Troutman Sanders Attorneys Named ‘Rising Stars’ in New York [Troutman Sanders]
London Olympic Journey Nearing an End [Samyr Laine]
From Bachelor Pad to an Adult’s Home, for $8,000 [New York Times]

Earlier: Legal Eagle Wedding Watch: Don’t Pee on My Leg
Some Sightings of the Elusive Lawyer Athlete