Where do you practice law?
I am a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of WilmerHale and admitted both in Washington and New York. I chair our regulatory and government affairs department, which includes our regulatory expertise, such as our financial institutions practice and our defense practice and many others, as well as our strategic response practice, which handles crises that cut across disciplines, such as cyber breaches.
What brought you to the law and your particular practice area?
I have been practicing law for over 40 years, and in that time have moved in and out of private practice and senior government positions. I am a litigator by training and have never lost that bent, but my service at the senior level and my service on government boards and commissions, particularly in the national security community, led me to want to practice at WilmerHale, which, perhaps more than any other firm, understands the intersection of law and policy and informs its law practice with the perspectives of many, many former senior government lawyers.
What has been your experience with mentorship in the legal field?
I have always helped younger women lawyers (and now, almost all of them are younger than I am!). I do this because it is the right thing to do but also because it is fun. I feel that there is a "Gorelick diaspora" of worldbeating women lawyers who are shooting the lights out in private practice, in government, in the corporate world, and in the non-profit community. If I have been able to help them in any way, I feel very good about it.
What has changed for women about entering law school and beginning a legal career?
When I started out, lawyers did not change firms or move in and out of private practice and other jobs as much. You tended to go to a firm and stay. The greater flexibility of law firms and the proliferation of opportunities for women are exciting, as it allows young women to try on for size very different settings in which they can use their skills—and then to import into their next job what they have learned. This makes for better lawyers and careers that are more varied and more fun.
Have you ever faced gender discrimination?
You bet. It is hard when you are ignored or worse because of your gender, so you have to develop a thick skin and a very healthy sense of humor. I developed a resilience that has stood me in good stead. And I learned that much of professional life is personal, so I made sure that each person with whom I worked got to know me— as I got to know them—on a personal level. It's much harder for someone to characterize me by gender if they know me and know what I can do.
If you could do it all over again, what might you change?
Not a thing. I've had a blast.
Listed in Best Lawyers for Bet-The-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Criminal Defense: White-Collar, Government Relations Practice, Litigation — Antitrust, Litigation — Regulatory Enforcement (Sec, Telecom, Energy)
Jamie Gorelick was one of the longest serving Deputy Attorneys General of the United States, and in her role as Assistant to the Secretary and Counselor to the Deputy Secretary of Energy, was presented with the Secretary's Outstanding Service Medal. She is currently a member of the Defense Policy Board and the Defense Legal Policy Board at the U.S. Department of Defense. Previously, Ms. Gorelick was a member of the bipartisan National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the "9/11 Commission"), was a member of the CIA's National Security Advisory Panel, on President Bush's Review of Intelligence Committee, and co-chaired President Clinton's Advisory Committee to the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection.
Originally published in Best Lawyers Business Edition, Spring 2016
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