Employer: U.S. Department of Justice
Title and Practice Area: U.S. Attorney, Eastern District of Virginia, Criminal law

What was the most valuable lesson you learned in your first year practicing law? The importance of integrity and humility during the criminal prosecution process. When you are taking away someone's liberty through prosecution, there is no winning, but rather just seeing that justice is done.

Describe your biggest win or accomplishment in practice. My biggest trial win involved the conviction of three members of an international criminal enterprise for racketeering violations, including multiple attempted murders. Professionally, becoming chief of staff to then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein during one of the most tumultuous periods in [DOJ] history.

Who is your greatest lawyer mentor and what has he or she taught you? My father George James Terwilliger III [an acting attorney general and former deputy attorney general]. He taught the importance of [keeping] your nose to the grindstone.

Please share a brief key to your success. I am dyslexic. Through law school, it simply meant having put in many more hours than my classmates to process the same volume of information. This created a tremendous work ethic and never-quit attitude. Further, my dyslexia manifests itself in a very analytical way. While I used to see my dyslexia as limiting and demoralizing, it has given me the tools to be a strong leader and litigator.