After several years as a regulation attorney in the Solicitor’s Office of the Department of Labor, Ellen Goodwin decided that the time had come to challenge herself anew by pursuing a career in private practice. Groom was a logical next step. “When I worked at the DOL,” she recalls, “Groom was well-respected among DOL lawyers and was frequently involved with developing and requesting guidance on cutting-edge issues.” 

She has not been disappointed in her choice: “This is a great place to work. The depth of experience is unequalled, and I am constantly interacting with partners. The work itself is at a highly sophisticated level. And learning happens very fast around here.” Ellen particularly appreciates Groom’s collegial culture, observing that when she works on a client engagement with other attorneys whose expertise is different from hers, “They challenge me to see things differently--to see the problem from other points-of-view.”

Ellen maintains a healthy perspective on her challenges at the firm through her interest in cycling—she often rides to work and has explored the desert Southwest on bikes with her husband —and through the lessons she has learned from watching the antics of Molly, her Chesapeake Bay Retriever. “Molly is a dog’s dog,” she says. “If there is a squirrel, she’s chasing it. If there’s a pile of dirty laundry, she’s rolling in it. If there’s a body of water, she’s swimming in it. I try to emulate her level of enthusiasm in my approach to the law every day—but as a mere mortal I always fall short.”