Don’t ever take no for an answer. This has been the driving motivator of Assoc. Commerce Prof. Sherri Moore’s journey. Moore knew from the age of six that she wanted to be a lawyer — not deterred, but rather roused, by the nay-saying and doubtful comments from her family and society. Ultimately, she would go on to serve as a trial lawyer for 20 years.
Now with the University for the past 15 years, Moore has become more than just a Commercial Law professor — she is a source of support and inspiration for her students. Her journey into academia was nothing short of fate, and despite the grief, loss and hardships she encountered, her newfound perspective on the importance of attitude and moxie is what kept her going and what inspires University students today.
In 1960s America, female employment and work outside of the home was still a foreign concept, one that many frowned upon. Moore’s father and her Greek culture believed in the traditional family structure and failed to believe in Moore’s aspirations of working in law.
“But my mother was a dynamo,” Moore said. “So I was always inspired by that … I wanted to be a lawyer at six … she never said no, right? She was wanting to help me think, ‘If you want to be it, you can be whatever you want.’”
Moore was inspired by her mother, a trailblazer on the school board, multiple associations and nonprofits. Moore became motivated by this figure in her life, someone who was doing something abnormal at the time, doing something that she was told she could not do.
After graduating the University as an undergraduate, Moore went on to become a paralegal at the age of 21, where she spent two years before attending law school. One of her greatest role models, one who serves as a powerful figure in her life to this day, was her first boss.
“She was in litigation, again, just unheard of. She was … the only female partner. And there were 300 partners.” Moore said. “From the get-go, I just thought, ‘She’s so cool. She’s so bright, she was tough, but she was always graceful.’”
It was in this space that she learned that she could be a lawyer while also staying true to who she was as a woman — she did not have to change herself. Moore took this attitude with her into Richmond Law School, where she thrived at the top of her class — despite her father’s belief that she would never go back to school and would have children by then instead.
Throughout this process, she still encountered the lingering misogyny of the professional environment — partners from firms asking about family plans, recruiting male students who were less qualified than she was and judges in court assuming that she was not the attorney at hand. But Moore learned to take these in stride and use her own personality to her advantage. Taking it from her first boss, she learned to be kind to everyone, yet to stay tough as nails in all walks of life.
“Being in the courtroom, having judges kind of look to me like, ‘Ma’am, where’s your lawyer?’ I am the lawyer,” Moore said. “What I learned to do is, instead of defending my femininity by being a man and putting it aside or by hiding it, I used it to my advantage.”
As she neared a 20-year career in litigation, Moore found herself in a transitional period, losing both her husband and her mother. She shares this story in her now-famed “Last Lecture,” a sentiment that started off as a Harvard Series and became a tradition she continues at the end of each and every one of her Commercial Law I courses. Her story prompted students to contact her, telling her how it helped them in their own lives.
“I hope when I show you who I am, that I now live life positive, happy as I can, to show you that it was a journey, and it came from hard work,” Moore said. “I could still cry every day if I wanted to … I can’t do anything about it now but make it a positive. And if I can give the last lecture and share that and change somebody’s life, right, even if at the least it just makes them think for two seconds, then it’s worth it.”
As a professor, Moore emphasizes not to let negative thoughts and judgments become your personality and to let your personality be love. She emphasizes not sweating the small stuff that you cannot change, but rather focusing on the good stuff.
“I want you to know how good life is, because I know you're gonna have some times in life and it's not gonna be so good … and it will come in different forms, different shapes, different times, but just know the majority of life is great,” Moore said.
Focusing on women, she spoke on the importance of women helping each other, supporting one another and not changing who you are.
“I always wear a dress … I’m a woman, not gonna change that,” Moore said.
Throughout her life, Moore’s drive has come from never backing down. Each rejection, doubt and uncertainty she has faced has pushed her even more to her next goal.
“That's what I would give advice to, every young woman … don't ever take no for an answer,” Moore said.
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