Catching Up With Alumni

5

Clare E. Myers ’19

Associate, Mayer Brown 
Chicago

Describe your work: I am an associate in Mayer Brown’s litigation and dispute resolution group, and a member of the firm’s Supreme Court and appellate practice. Mayer Brown’s appellate group is an “appeals and issues” group, so we not only handle appeals, but also are embedded in teams at the pretrial and trial stages to provide strategic counsel. My work includes everything from preparing for the depositions of key witnesses to drafting U.S. Supreme Court briefs, and has covered a broad range of substantive areas. I also maintain an active pro bono practice, most recently successfully representing two young women from Afghanistan in their asylum cases.

What activities do you enjoy outside of work? I really enjoy distance running, especially marathons. I love traveling with my partner and friends to countries I’ve never been to before, most recently to Chile and Argentina to explore Patagonia. It has also been wonderful to spend a few years here in Chicago, which has given me the opportunity to get involved with my church, become a member of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and devote time to trying every restaurant featured in “The Bear.”

Are you where you expected to be at this stage of your career and life? Absolutely not! In law school, I never would have expected to have the opportunity to clerk for a federal judge, and my less-than-stellar performance during 1L oral arguments convinced me that appellate work was not for me. After law school, I clerked for two judges at two different federal appellate courts and discovered that I truly enjoyed working in this space. Now I am preparing for my first argument at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and am looking forward to it much more than that first oral argument back in law school.

What do you like about your life 5 years after law school? I am grateful to be at a stage of my career where I have started to develop some expertise, but still have the opportunity to try new things every day. I like that my work is challenging and demanding, while flexible enough to allow me to work remotely when visiting family and friends across the country. I enjoy having a well-rounded life outside of the law, but I genuinely love being a lawyer — particularly when it means that I can meaningfully help my clients, whether they are government agencies seeking outside counsel, big corporations involved in multidistrict litigation, or refugees seeking protection from violence and a new life here in the United States.

10

Mingda Hang ’14 (BIMS Ph.D. ’10)

Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.

Describe your work: I am a trial attorney at the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS) under the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division. We identify, investigate and prosecute the most significant transnational drug trafficking organizations and their enablers, such as money launderers and chemical suppliers. We are a small and tight-knit band of prosecutors who take great pride in working on some of the most complex criminal cases and serving the country at this salient moment of the synthetic drug crisis. By the way, I am not the only Wahoo at NDDS: I am serving alongside Kate Nassef ’14, Janet Turnbull ’04 and Joshua Katcher ’09. The four of us make up a hefty percentage of NDDS’ litigation unit.

What activities do you enjoy outside of work? On Fridays, when our respective schedules allow, Laura (Prebeck Hang ’14 [Col ’00]) and I have lunch together at a Japanese restaurant near our house. We always sit at the same place and order the same dishes. We align, calibrate and compare notes. We plan our next house project or family vacation, and we daydream a bit. We say thank you to each other, but not in those words. We pat each other on the back, both figuratively and literally. And we marvel at our two daughters (College ’38 and ’41, hopefully?). I love these lunches.

Are you where you expected to be at this stage of your career and life? Not in my wildest dreams. I came to America after college to pursue a doctorate degree in bioscience. I never had a conversation in English until I came to the States, and it took me years to overcome the shock, sorrow and enduring uneasiness that I imagine every adult immigrant has to face. But I was given a place at UVA Law, and it catalyzed a voyage of re-establishing my true self. I still remember the life-changing phone calls from Cordel Faulk [’01] and Jason Wu Trujillo [’01]. Every so often, there are folks who are graciously curious, asking me how a Chinese immigrant who came to the U.S. at 23 became a federal prosecutor. I tell them it’s only possible in America. What I also know is, it’s only possible because I went to UVA Law.

What do you like about your life 10 years after law school? I am content. There is nowhere else I want to be.

15

Lauren Brown Peters ’09

Attorney, Malouf Nakos Jackson & Swinson
Dallas

Describe your work: My practice focuses on estate planning, probate, and trust administration and settlement. Primarily, my clients are families and their advisers, and I help to structure and put into effect plans that balance each client’s personal, tax and business goals. I love that my daily work is so focused on relationships and that I get to be a part of my clients’ lives — from births to deaths, the building and selling of businesses, and everything in between.

What activities do you enjoy outside of work? My husband, Bart, and I have a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. So, outside of work, I am busy enjoying ballet classes, backyard soccer games and trips to the park. We have a big family locally, which is fun, and which brought each of us back to Texas from Virginia. We are active in our church and enjoy spending time connecting with the families in our neighborhood and at our children’s school.

Are you where you expected to be at this stage of your career and life? Yes, and no. My current practice does not look much like I would have thought 15 years ago. I started my career in commercial litigation at a large firm and found my way to a small firm estate-planning practice in an unexpected manner. However, I can say I am where I hoped to be in a broader sense: I am back in my hometown, I enjoy the professional relationships I’ve built, I find my work fulfilling, and I also get to enjoy and care for my family.

What do you like about your life 15 years after law school? I love that I have found a rhythm and style of practice that suits me, and that allows for great work-life balance. Although I took a winding path, I don’t feel like any professional experience has been wasted. I like that I feel settled in my work and my community, but also that I have exciting things yet to come in my career and so much to enjoy as my children grow up.

25

Carlos M. Brown ’99

President, Dominion Energy Services Co.; Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Dominion Energy Inc.
Richmond, Virginia

Describe your work: Essentially, I run a large professional services organization that consists of lawyers, accountants, business analysts, engineers, and security, information technology, customer experience, and finance and treasury professionals who support the operations of our utilities and infrastructure businesses totaling approximately 4,000 employees, not including contractors, across seven states.

What activities do you enjoy outside of work? When I’m not working, I spend a lot of time engaged in the community and serving on several boards, including as vice rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors, as a member of the UVA Law School Foundation board, and as vice chair of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, as well as with several other nonprofits. I am very fortunate to be married to my wife, Tamara Charity-Brown, M.D., whom I met at UVA. We have been married for 25 years and have four amazing children: Carlos Jr., Charity, Chelsea and Cari. When the kids were younger, I coached them through their sports and activities, and now we spend a lot of our free time chasing them around the country supporting their various endeavors. When I do have uncommitted time, I enjoy supporting the Cavaliers in football and basketball, and I am an avid Dallas Cowboys fan. I am also an assistant pastor in my church.

Are you where you expected to be at this stage of your career and life? Based on the 20-year plan I drafted in 2003, I would say the answer is no. I expected to be working in a small firm of no more than 10 lawyers in suburban or rural Virginia. It was also a part of my plan to spend some time in elected public service. Instead, most of my public service has been via appointment to various state-level boards such as the Commonwealth Transportation Board and the boards of Christopher Newport University and the University of Virginia. So I guess you would say that I am in a much different place than I thought I would be at this stage of my career, but still as wonderful.

What do you like about your life 25 years after law school? For what I describe as a simple country boy from Long Ridge, Virginia, the opportunities that my law degree have afforded me have been amazing. It has taken me places and exposed me to things that I could hardly have imagined when I was a young man watching “Perry Mason” in the 1970s. My law degree has allowed me to have an influence on my company and on the community in ways that are very rarely afforded. I’ve also been able to influence the broader legal community to become more diverse and inclusive so that legal services are more available.