Firm support
by Suzi Morales, J.D.
Serving others is central to who Anietie Akpan (J.D. ’13) is.
You can see it in her work, how she talks about her family and why she chose the St. Mary’s University School of Law.
Akpan recently became Director of Corporate Counsel at Mattress Firm, helping the company with a range of legal issues while also maintaining an active pro bono docket.
Influences for good
As a daughter of Nigerian immigrants, Akpan grew up in Houston and was influenced by watching her parents navigate the legal maze of the naturalization process.
She learned other lessons from her parents, like seeing her mother take off a sweater to give to someone who needed it. Though Akpan’s mother died shortly after she graduated from law school, Akpan vividly remembered her mother sharing the joy of her St. Mary’s Law acceptance letter and dancing with her in the living room.
“My mother had such a servant’s heart, and that has shaped me in every way, especially how I practice law.”
Akpan chose St. Mary’s Law, in part, because of its strong community. As a J.D. student, she worked alongside Law Chaplain Sister Grace Walle, F.M.I., D.Min., to organize Law Ministry events from community service to social activities.
“The Law Ministry Office really anchored my experience at school and influenced my perspective on what the law can do and what the law student experience could be like,” Akpan said.
“The Law Ministry Office really anchored my experience at school and influenced my perspective on what the law can do and what the law student experience could be like.”
— Anietie Akpan (J.D. ’13)
Opportunities for service
Akpan began her career with broad-based litigation experience for a firm specializing in family and education law. She loved using her research and writing skills and wanted to apply those to clients’ business decisions.
She moved to the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, where she enjoyed the combination of in-house transactional work and interaction with consumers.
Now at Mattress Firm in Houston, Akpan said she has “so much fun” with matters ranging from corporate and securities to e-commerce and merchandising. With her orientation toward service, she appreciates that much of the work she does is consumer-facing.
“I found the right blend of the type of law, the skills and the customer/client in this particular position I have now,” she said. “I’m so very grateful.”
Outside of the office, Akpan works pro bono on transactional and estate planning matters. She said even busy attorneys in private practice can find time to provide legal services to people who might not otherwise be able to afford them.
“It’s really about finding opportunities that are digestible,” she said. “A lot of times with those estate planning clients, they just need very basic advanced planning docs, and those are things I can work on a little bit each weekend.”
One through line in her career has been her focus on service, whether it is at work considering the perspectives of consumers or through volunteer activities.
“St. Mary’s was a big influence on my decision to incorporate volunteer and pro bono work into everything I do,” she said. “St. Mary’s really planted that seed in me.”
