How Did You Get Your Start?

When I came to UVA, I tried to find classes that would teach me to be a better thinker, not necessarily learn facts that I would apply in a job somewhere. I found that the professors in the Foreign Affairs major really helped me do that, so I continued taking classes with them and ended up with the major.

When I went to UVA, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to be a lawyer. Over the course of my 4 years, I slowly learned that maybe law school was what I was supposed to do. The class that put me over the top was Kenneth Elzinga's Econ 4200 class. It focused on antitrust law and was taught like a law school class with case-based readings and Socratic dialogue. I thought that if that's what law school was like, maybe that's what I should do.

I ended up going to law school at UVA, got a job as a summer associate between my 2nd and 3rd years of law school at a firm, Hogan Lovells, with a good antitrust practice, and ended up working there for the last 23 years.

I stayed for several reasons. First, I love the work that I get to do at the firm. Second, I love the people I get to do it with. Third, it's been a very good work environment and a stable one in an industry where there could be a lot of ups and downs.