Describe your career trajectory.
It has been anything but linear. I started in private practice then became a prosecutor, then a fraud investigator, then in-house counsel, then senior legal counsel at the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) before landing at Husch Blackwell.
I liked my colleagues and my work at RIDOH, and feel I did something incredibly important for the state during the pandemic as part of the governor’s COVID-19 task force. But being a state attorney who was working around the clock was not affording me the quality of life I desired. I was concerned, too, that the narrow focus of my work was limiting the scope of my legal knowledge. I wanted to be a complete attorney. The only way to realize my personal and professional goals was to return to private practice.
Why have you chosen to make your career at Husch Blackwell?
Husch Blackwell’s email alerts about COVID-19 and its legal implications found their way to my desk at RIDOH. I also learned that the firm, a trusted thought leader in healthcare law – my wheelhouse – was developing a presence in Rhode Island. Not every established firm treats healthcare like its own practice area, and Husch Blackwell has more than 150 attorneys focused in that field. That the firm offered this incredibly deep bench was an exciting proposition. Knowing, too, that people I worked with respected the firm was also important to me.
Another selling point was the tremendous support Husch Blackwell offers its attorneys. I could seek input in any area of law from my colleagues across the country and access a library filled with resources. It was an embarrassment of riches. The firm would equip me as an attorney to maximize my ability to practice law and make me the best I could be.
How has Husch Blackwell supported you in achieving work/life balance?
Out of the gate, the firm tailored my performance goals to accommodate my transfer from public to private practice, recognizing that I had to ramp up as a lateral without a book of business. The Healthcare Practice Group leaders focused on the practicality of the change I was contemplating. It was so clear from that first meeting that they didn’t want me to fail. Become the attorney, and the work and the hours will follow, they said. Since then, I’ve been able to expand my practice to Massachusetts, and assist in matters that span the country. After only six months, I found that my goals were already coming to fruition. The firm’s understanding of the transitional difficulties I faced has meant the world to me.
What is one thing that makes Husch Blackwell special?
In my area specifically, everyone has a combined goal of being a leader in the healthcare regulatory space. We all want to maximize our efficiencies, celebrate our successes and the knowledge we acquire through experience, and look for ways to be better. This sense of purpose is a real testament to the people who make up this firm, who collectively ensure that every scrap of work done feels like the fruit of a collaborative effort in which we all can take pride. We are a team, rowing in the same direction, whose shared experience is more than a job.
I am so glad I made this move.