Online Alumni Community

For profiles of alumni working in public interest legal jobs, visit the Center for Law and Social Responsibility's Alumni profiles.

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Business / Tax Law
Criminal Law
Environmental Law
Family Law
Health Care Law
Intellectual Law

Business / Tax Law

Jacqueline I. Grise ('95)

Partner, Howrey LLP, Washington, D.C.

Jacqueline Grise is a partner in the Antitrust Practice Group at Howrey LLP, which has the world's largest law firm antitrust practice. Just two years out of law school, she accepted a staff attorney position at Howrey that took her to California to work on the merger of McDonnell Douglas and The Boeing Company. Eight years later, she has risen from staff attorney to associate to partner ? the first person in the firm to advance on that career path. Her practice in competition law is focused on international mergers and acquisitions, and she is regularly involved in complex multi-jurisdictional cases that shape the law in the field of antitrust. She counsels many large multinational clients, including Bertelsmann, BMG, Nestlé, Ingersoll-Rand, H.J. Heinz, Dana Corporation, and Whirlpool. "I enjoy the intellectual challenges of antitrust, which combines law, economics, and policy. I get great professional satisfaction from developing creative arguments to help my clients achieve their strategic business objectives. Going behind the scenes of each client's business to understand how it works keeps my work fresh and fascinating."

James R. Tandler ('92)

Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York

After graduating from New England, James Tandler attended New York University School of Law, earning an LL.M. in taxation. He then joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he advises clients on a variety of tax matters, including structuring domestic and international corporate and partnership transactions. "Tax law has always been challenging. It involves keeping current with developments in areas of the law you are familiar with, as well as continuing to learn about areas that are new to you. You are constantly faced with complex transactions, and the tax consequences can determine whether a transaction is consummated. It is satisfying to see the deals you've worked on come full circle and close with satisfied clients."

Criminal Law

Minerva C. Blanchette ('98)

Public Defender, Paulding County Judicial Circuit, Georgia
Formerly Assistant District Attorney, Judicial Circuits of South Georgia, Cherokee, and Tallapoosa

With seven years of experience as a state prosecutor in three Georgia judicial circuits, Minerva Blanchette has switched to the defense side of criminal law. Her eventual goal: to open her own criminal law practice. As she sees it, having experience on both sides of the field will be valuable. The rewards of her previous positions and her current job are similar: she likes the excitement of trial, she is always learning new things, and she enjoys meeting people and addressing their needs. On top of that, she is grateful to have a job that allows her to have time with her two young daughters and enables her to contribute to her community, activities that have garnered several awards for service and fundraising. "If you like meeting new people, and your heart is set on helping them, criminal law is a wonderful field. You have the satisfaction of convicting someone who has done something egregious, or you can experience the appreciation of victims and their families. You need to be good at arguing your point of view and figuring out ways to combat opposing arguments. In law school, taking courses like appellate procedure, research and writing, and any criminal law course is helpful, but what I really found invaluable was moot court. Getting hands-on experience through clinics or internships is a good idea, and if criminal law is your goal, try to observe as many trials as you can."

Antoinette E.M. Leoney ('84)

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Major Crimes Unit, Criminal Division, United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

Antoinette Leoney is a member of the United States Attorney's Office Major Crimes Unit, where she prosecutes cases involving complex violent crime and white-collar felonies. An assistant United States attorney since 1994, she served for two years in the Anti-Terrorism Unit established in the aftermath of September 11. Before joining the United States Attorney's Office, she was a senior litigation associate with a Cambridge law firm and deputy chief legal counsel to former Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis. Her many professional activities include serving as past president of the Women's Bar Foundation; she also was the first federal prosecutor to serve as president of the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts. "My work in the Anti-Terrorism Unit was really an extension of my work in Major Crimes, relying on the same skills and approach in different contexts. I enjoy litigation. I particularly enjoy being a prosecutor and representing the public. I would advise anyone interested in criminal law, whether as a prosecutor or defense counsel, to have a well-rounded practice background. Obtain experience in different types of law practice early in your career, either in law school or right after law school."

Environmental Law

Wendy Skillman ('00)

Deputy District Attorney, Environmental and Consumer Law Division
Santa Rosa, California

Wendy Skillman entered law school knowing she wanted to find a practice area that involved public service. By the end of her first year, she had discovered environmental law. She now works as a deputy district attorney with the Sonoma County district attorney's office, assigned to the Environmental and Consumer Law Division. Her cases include hazardous waste spills and storm-water polllution. "I like playing a role in protecting natural resources. In law school, I took several environmental law courses and worked at the nonprofit Clean Air Task Force through the Environmental Law Clinic. The clinic and the National Environmental Moot Court Competition were both great experiences and really helped me figure out whether I wanted to practice environmental law and whether I wanted to be a litigator. I decided the answer was 'yes' to both."

John H. (Jack) Grady III ('80)

Of Counsel, Jones Day, Atlanta, Georgia

As a sole practitioner in Massachusetts, Jack Grady found that his cases increasingly included environmental issues. Environmental law was becoming an active specialty area at the time, and a few years later, Mr. Grady accepted a job as a trial attorney at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., working in the Environmental Enforcement Section of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. While at the Department of Justice, he received the department's Special Achievement Award and two Bronze Medals for Commendable Service from the Environmental Protection Agency. He has been at Jones Day since 1997, where he represents clients in environmental enforcement litigation and private party disputes, as well as providing regulatory and compliance counseling and negotiating environmental aspects in mergers and acquisitions. "Environmental law involves issues that are of interest to almost everyone, because people are concerned about the environment and their health. It also impacts business transactions, litigation, and all aspects of corporate life. It's a highly regulated, highly specialized area, but even so, it's not limited, because of the broad impact it has. I would advise beginning attorneys to get a broad foundation of legal experience. I was glad that I first had a general practice, so I learned to be a lawyer first, before I specialized."

Family Law

Anthony J. Donegan ('97)

Anthony J. Donegan, Jr., P.C.
Brockton, Massachusetts

After one year as a law clerk in the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court and two years with the Boston firm White, Inker, Aronson, P.C., Anthony Donegan hung out his own shingle, focusing on family law. His experience at New England on the Jessup moot court team and the War Crimes Prosecution Project gave him extensive practice in legal research, writing, and oral advocacy. He believes his moot court experience prepared him well for motion sessions in the Probate and Family Court, because in both situations, lawyers focus on a few issues before a judge, with only a short time in which to be persuasive. "The legal issues you face in domestic relations are changing all the time, as the definition and concept of family changes. I like that there's an emphasis on equity, which is crucial when you're dealing with the dissolution or evolution of families. You help people resolve their problems, and you set up a template for the future so they can go on with their lives. I would recommend to anyone who plans to open a solo practice that they have some colleagues to exchange views with regularly to see how other areas of the law affect your practice."

Lesley Goldsmith ('97)

Assistant Register, Massachusetts Probate and Family Court, Norfolk County

As assistant register in Probate and Family Court, Lesley Goldsmith works in the courtroom on a daily basis. Her responsibilities involve preparing each day's cases: checking that the jurisdiction is correct, determining that all procedural requirements have been satisfied, and assessing whether the case is ready to go before the judge. She assists with procedural questions in the courtroom, looking up the relevant law as the case progresses. She also answers questions and reviews documents submitted by attorneys and individuals representing themselves. Before attending law school, Ms. Goldsmith was a social worker, and she finds she uses those skills in her current position. During law school, she was a law intern at the Children's Law Center, and after graduation, she was a judicial clerk in Probate and Family Court. "I love probate and family law. Our cases deal with every life situation from pre-birth to post- death, and many of the cases are cutting edge, such as those dealing with reproductive technology. I do all the legwork before the cases are presented to the judge, so the judge can focus on applying the law and making a decision. I love the interaction that comes from being firmly entrenched in the administration of the law and helping people on a daily basis to move their cases through the court system to final judgment. I found the Lawyering Process clinic and my clerkship experiences very valuable preparation for what I do now."

Health Care Law

Martin C. Foster ('80)

Partner, Foster & Eldridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Martin Foster's first job after law school was as legal counsel for the late United States Congressman John Joseph Moakley, whom he had served as a congressional assistant during law school. Mr. Foster then joined a Cambridge firm and became a partner two years later. He serves as defense counsel at trial and appellate levels in medical mal- practice, health care, personal injury, and civil rights cases. The recipient of the Massachusetts Bar Association's Public Service Award in 1992 and its Community Service Award in 1997, he is the president of the New England School of Law corporation. "Health care is a particularly satisfying area of the law because the goal is to provide a safe environment for medical providers to practice and for patients to be treated. When medical errors occur, it's important to try to correct them and learn from them, especially if they are systemic, and then to improve the quality of care. Defending practitioners against meritless charges is a significant part of that process as well. Students interested in health care law would be well advised to take at least the basic health care courses, as well as the Health and Hospital Clinic. The practice of health care law today increasingly involves working with regulatory agencies, so administrative law is also useful preparation."

Ellen Janos ('77)

Member, Health Section, Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., Boston, Massachusetts

Ellen Janos worked in the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office while attending New England School of Law in the evenings. By the end of law school, she was working in the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. As an assistant attorney general after she graduated, Ms. Janos argued two cases before the United States Supreme Court, prevailing in both. When she entered private practice, she specialized in health care law and now has a general health care practice with an emphasis on state and federal regulatory compliance, hospital-physician relationships, and health care fraud, abuse, and privacy. "Health care law is very challenging, because it's constantly changing. Much of the field focuses on areas that raise public policy questions, which also makes it interesting. Most importantly, though, it's an area that touches on people's lives, so you're involved in issues that really matter to everyone. In preparing for a career in health care law, it's very important to have a solid foundation in administrative law, because it's a highly regulated field. A strong background in business law is also very valuable."

Intellectual Property Law

Shashank Upadhye ('95)

Vice President, Head of Intellectual Property, Sandoz US
Novartis Corporate Intellectual Property Group
Princeton, New Jersey

Shashank Upadhye took Copyright Law at New England, but when he graduated, he first looked to environmental law as a way to use both his undergraduate training in biochemistry and his recently acquired education in law. But when he switched to intellectual property law, he had found his niche and went on to earn an LL.M. in intellectual property law from John Marshall Law School. He joined Eon Labs and then Novartis-Sandoz after practicing patent and trademark law at two Chicago firms, and he continues to focus in those areas. He has taught patent law to law students and engineering students and has published eight law review articles, beginning in his second year at New England. He also served as co-editor of the Patent Journal. "I love the interaction of technology and the law. Intellectual property practice is the perfect marriage between science and law. My advice to students who want to practice in the intellectual property field is to take as many intellectual property courses as you can. Show your interest in the field by writing papers and law review articles on those topics. It is also a good idea to contact practitioners during law school to talk about career options. Most will be very willing to talk."

Kathleen Madden Williams ('92)

Partner, Co-chair of Life Science Practice, Executive Committee Member
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, Boston, Massachusetts

With advanced degrees in both law and science, Kathleen Madden Williams has developed an intellectual property practice that is concentrated in the biotechnology, biomedical, and pharmaceutical fields. Her clients include start-up biotech companies, private and public mid-sized companies, large pharmaceutical companies, and university/research nonprofit entities. With a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biochemistry from Brown University, she is the author of numerous articles on intellectual property issues and has given papers and led workshops at national and international conferences on biotechnology and intellectual property. "Patent law permits me to satisfy my interest in the law with my curiosity about science, creating an intellectual synergy. New England exposed me to the best teachers I have had during both my undergraduate and graduate coursework. I very much enjoyed the classes because my fellow evening students came from many professions and were mature enough to be invested in their studies. The different viewpoints of people in a variety of professions ? scientists, police officers, nurses, doctors, musicians ? made for a rich experience in learning the law. I was very well prepared for the bar exam, and the law school works hard to pave the way to many legal professions, whether it's government, private, or public-service legal positions."