This fall, WilmerHale welcomed 36 new associates to our US offices. In this second set of interviews, you’ll meet associates from the Litigation and Securities Departments who share an interest in everything from exploring different cultures to traveling abroad.
(O’Grady by the Mona Lisa at the Louvre in Paris.)
Name: Maggie O’Grady
Office: Boston
Practice: Litigation/Controversy
School: Harvard Law School
WH: What is it about WilmerHale that made you want to practice here?
O’Grady: The complex, stimulating work; passionate attorneys; and the whole culture of teamwork and intellectual rigor. WilmerHale has a reputation for being a place where associates can gain real, valuable experience early on, and so far, that has definitely proven true.
WH: What are you most looking forward to as you begin your practice?
O’Grady: I’m most looking forward to being intellectually challenged and working with and learning from the experienced litigators at WilmerHale. I just want to jump in and learn and contribute as much as I can.
WH: What did you do during your deferral period?
O’Grady: I worked on Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s senate campaign conducting policy research, doing debate prep, and writing issue statements and white papers about veterans’ affairs, child safety and small business development. After we lost (and I went through a period of mourning), I wrote a paper based on some research I started in law school about weight discrimination in jury selection. The paper—“A Jury of Your (Skinny) Peers: Weight-Based Peremptory Challenges and the Culture of Fat Bias”—will be published in the Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. I also traveled a great deal throughout my deferral, including trips to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Greece and Paris.
WH: Tell us a fun fact about yourself...
O’Grady: I am a huge fan of contemporary art and do some painting of my own. I absolutely love coming to an office everyday that has such great art.
(Parnes at the ruins in Pisac, Peru.)
Name: Jonathan Parnes
Office: Washington DC
Practice: Litigation/Controversy
School: Georgetown University Law Center
WH: What is it about WilmerHale that made you want to practice here?
Parnes: Much of my experience, both before and during law school, was in public interest and government. When I was applying to be a summer associate, many of the firms I interviewed with appeared to look at that experience negatively. WilmerHale, however, appreciated and respected my public interest and government experience, and encourages attorneys to continue to pursue that kind of work throughout their careers.
WH: What are you most looking forward to as you begin your practice?
Parnes: I am most excited to get in the trenches and begin the practical legal education that I did not get in law school. I am also excited to learn from the attorneys at WilmerHale, whether they have been practicing for a few years or 20.
WH: What did you do during your deferral period?
Parnes: I worked for 10 months at the National Veterans Legal Services Program, which provides pro bono legal representation to veterans who are seeking benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. I prepared briefs submitted to the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and worked on a class action brought against the US Department of Defense with a putative class of 4,000 veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
WH: Tell us a fun fact about yourself...
Parnes: I am hooked on SCUBA. During my bar trip to Thailand, I took classes to receive advanced certification, and I am itching for my next opportunity to get back in the water. Travel is also a passion of mine, and this past spring I got the chance to spend about eight days touring the ruins in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Machu Picchu is truly a must see.
(Dryer feeding a swamp wallaby at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, Australia.)
Name: Jane Dryer
Office: New York
Practice: Litigation/Controversy
School: Brooklyn Law School
WH: What is it about WilmerHale that made you want to practice here?
Dryer: I wanted to work on patent litigation cases, and WilmerHale has one of the best patent litigation practices in the country. In addition, I found all of the people I met when I interviewed extremely interesting, so WilmerHale seemed like the right fit for me.
WH: What are you most looking forward to as you begin your practice?
Dryer: Everything! I used to be a journalist, so I am really excited to get a feel for the practice of law and apply what I learned in law school in a practical setting.
WH: What did you do during your deferral period?
Dryer: I worked on a pro bono case that I started working on during my participation in the Brooklyn Law Incubator & Policy Clinic. We represented a computer hardware manufacturer sued by Apple for manufacturing computers compatible with Mac OS X. All told, I worked on the case for almost 10 months. I also traveled to Australia for two weeks.
WH: Tell us a fun fact about yourself...
Dryer: I grow a lot of plants on the deck of my apartment. This summer I grew herbs, tomatoes, moon flowers (which only bloom at night), geraniums, petunias and marigolds.