Chicago Lawyer Proves Manners Really Do Matter
There's always that one class in college that students are baffled about. At the time, the class never seems to fit with their major. But imagine a student's delight to find out that course may later help her with a lucrative career.
In the case of attorney Guinevere Moore, that class happened to be quantitative reasoning.
"I was just livid about taking that class," said Moore, who was a history major at the time. "I had no interest in it. [But] it is by far the most important class I have ever taken. I use the skills that I learned in that class every single day."
In the course, students are taught how to make massive amounts of data and figures into usable, cognizable form to solve problems. As a tax controversy attorney for Holland & Knight, it makes sense that these skills would come in handy for Moore.
Moore holds an undergraduate degree in Liberal Arts & Science with a focus in History and Political Science. She graduated law school from DePaul College of Law. Then, she moved on to three semesters at the LLM Tax program at Northwestern University.
On a day-to-day basis, Moore is a fixer. She helps high-net-worth clients work with the IRS or the Department of Justice to negotiate resolutions for income tax payments. She was able to secure her current position by networking during a very trying time in the legal field around 2008.
After graduation, she worked for Katten, Muchin, Rosenman LLP. But this was during the time that the economy was completely catastrophic. The Lehman Brothers were dealing with bankruptcy, people were evading taxes by opening bank accounts in Switzerland, and the firm she worked for was laying off several associates.
Instead of being discouraged, she reached out to one law firm partner, Jenny Johnson, to help her with any needed work. That partnership lead to a long-term career in her current position. It's also the reason she encourages students to beware of their work behavior, especially when they're new in the industry.
"Be nice," advises Moore. "Be nice to each other. Be nice to your law school classmates. Be nice to your neighbors. Be nice to everyone that you know because you never know where your next opportunity will come from."
Shamontiel L. Vaughn is a professional journalist who has work featured in AXS, Yahoo!, Chicago Defender and Chicago Tribune. She's been an Examiner since 2009 and currently writes about 10 categories on Examiner.com.