凯特·麦克奈特:在为客户辩护中找到最终的满足感

Last summer, 凯特·麦克奈特, a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP, stood before a judge at the Virginia Supreme Court, 在一个选区重划案中为她的当事人辩护当时她已经怀孕七个月了.

麦克奈特说:“在口头辩论中，有一点听起来我喘不过气来. “但这只是因为这个孩子压在我的肺上. 我在想，我希望他们不会认为我紧张或者对我的论点缺乏信心.’”

麦克奈特, 现在是两个孩子的母亲, 她说她最大的挑战之一是既当个好家长又当个好澳博app. It’s all about maintaining balance, 她说, 她一边在操场上看着女儿，一边通过电话接受了华盛顿澳博app的采访.

“我尽量不把自己想得太远，而是专注于人们现在的需求, 包括我的女儿，她现在正隔着操场给我一个臭脸,她说。.

麦克奈特说，她试着集中精力与家人共度美好时光, be it just reading to her children in their living room. “It doesn’t have to be an expensive trip or toy,她说。.

And the balancing act continues at work. “在那里’s a lot on everyone’s plate. 你想要可靠，确保人们的期望得到满足. 如果你在送完孩子后才能到办公室, your colleagues know that you will be in the office later, they know how to contact you if needed, and they know you’ll get the work done. It breeds comfort and trust,” 麦克奈特说.

在贝克 & Hostetler, 麦克奈特的业务重点是商业诉讼和选举法, 在联邦和州审判法院以及上诉法院提起诉讼. 麦克奈特说 that when she became an associate at the firm, she knew she wanted to be a litigator, 尽管她仍然不确定她想加入哪个实践领域.

To help her define her interests, she signed on to any litigation project she could, learning from colleagues about how to run a litigation, 管理一个案例, 组建一个团队. 这些课程帮助她积累了成为一名成功的诉讼澳博app所需的技能和知识, 麦克奈特说.

麦克奈特说:“当我听说澳博app事务所的糟糕经历时，通常是由于管理不善. “You’re not trained in management in law school. You’re just trained to be intense.”

作为布朗大学的毕业生，麦克奈特似乎注定要从事法律工作. After finishing her undergraduate studies in 2000, 麦克奈特在哈拉雷的津巴布韦女澳博app协会做志愿者. 在那里, 她与女澳博app合作，研究并游说法官在涉及被谋杀妇女的案件中制定量刑准则.

“The sentencing was all over the map,麦克奈特说。. “如果是一个亲戚谋杀了一个女人，有时他们不会被判刑. 如果一个陌生人谋杀了一个女人，有时他们会被判终身监禁.”

从那次志愿工作中，麦克奈特看到法律教育不仅能帮助她实现进一步的政策目标, but also to help people.

在国家国际事务民主研究所工作了一段时间之后, 麦克奈特就读于明尼苏达大学法学院，并于2008年毕业. 当时法律就业市场的招聘急剧下降, 麦克奈特说，她很幸运地得到了克劳德. 美国希尔顿酒店.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

在她当职员期间, 麦克奈特 watched and learned from not only Judge Hilton, but also the various attorneys who had cases before him. “在法庭上和诉状中看到澳博app的各种风格，这对我很有帮助,麦克奈特说。. “I also saw that different styles work for different people, 澳博app不需要有一种特定的风格——你可以选择最适合你的.”

麦克奈特目睹了各种各样的诉讼澳博app在法官面前辩论，他意识到即使是最有经验的澳博app在法庭上也会紧张. “It was very humanizing,麦克奈特说。. “我刚从法学院毕业，这让我想起了我们都是人. 我学到了在倡导中什么才是真正重要的，这增强了我的信心.”

在贝克 & Hostetler, 麦克奈特专攻选举法，曾在弗吉尼亚州最高法院和联邦法院就选区重划案件进行辩护. “这是一个迷人的法律领域，法院的指导并不总是明确的，”她说. “这是一个不同寻常的法律领域，你会感受到最高法院意见的直接影响.”

As a partner in litigation, 麦克奈特说，她面临的挑战之一是带头为她的客户提出并支持他们的论点. “有一段时间，我不再是一个坐在办公桌后面做研究的助理, and I became the face of my clients’ arguments. It was an exciting step, but you and your team have to do the hard work required to be able to stand up in such an adversarial effort; you play a mental game of reminding yourself that you’ve done everything right and that you’re standing for your client.”

最终, 麦克奈特说，她觉得代表客户最令人满意, taking on their anxieties, and managing their legal issues so they don’t have to. “I’ve always liked the feeling of giving comfort to a client. 让客户放心，给他们指明解决诉讼的方法，是一件令人满意的事.”