Employer: Kaplan Hecker & Fink Title and Practice Area: Partner, Commercial and Civil Rights Litigation

Describe your biggest win or accomplishment in practice.  Serving among impeachment counsel to the House Judiciary Committee. In that role, I advised the committee and Chairman [Jerrold] Nadler on all stages of the impeachment process—from resolutions, hearings, and litigation, to crafting the articles of impeachment against President [Donald] Trump, to presenting a powerful case in the Senate.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned in your first year practicing law?  That a lawyer's job is to help clients solve problems using good judgment and all the tools at hand—which may or may not include litigation, and which always involves more than rigidly legalistic considerations. This perspective remains central to my practice and the advice I give clients.

Who is your greatest lawyer mentor and what has he or she taught you?  I've only once worn a bulletproof vest: while accompanying Robbie Kaplan to argue a civil rights case against white supremacists who attacked Charlottesville. In toppling [the Defense of Marriage Act], founding Times Up, suing modern-day Nazis, and holding Trump accountable, Robbie has taught me that bold, creative lawyers can help change the world.

Please share a brief key to your success.  I recognize that advocacy is frequently a multi-dimensional undertaking. Many of my cases extend beyond courtrooms to the press, the public, and the political sphere. That means my clients require holistic support—and so I seek opportunities to work across different settings and with diverse allies to achieve their goals.