Employer: Hogan Lovells Title and Practice Area: Senior Associate, Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation

Describe your biggest win or accomplishment in practice.  With the invaluable support of my colleagues, I argued and won a case at the Supreme Court earlier this year—Rodriguez v. FDIC. The issue was a tad dry (what body of law governs ownership of consolidated tax refunds?), but standing at the lectern for my client was an immense honor, and a lot of fun, to boot.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned in your first year practicing law?  I learned that what makes legal practice joyful is working with the right people—peers who are smart and kind, mentors who treat folks well and take an interest in their success. I've been lucky enough to have that at every job since law school, and it would be a drag to practice law any other way.

Who is your greatest lawyer mentor and what has he or she taught you?  Judge Merrick Garland, for whom I clerked, is the wisest lawyer I know, and one of the most decent human beings. When I'm writing, I try my best to muster the mix of precision and common sense he brings to every legal question. In life, I can only hope to live up to his example of grace and humility.

Please share a brief key to your success. Every legal achievement I'm proud of has come after I'd run into a hopeless dead-end of research, been persuaded by a colleague that my argument was badly flawed, or thrown out a draft and started over. Law is really hard. It's ok (helpful, actually) to be wrong, and critical not to give up until you've gotten it right.