Staying connected isn’t just meaningful. It moves you forward. And at our Associates’ Retreat, an alumni panel of legacy McDermott and legacy Shulte lawyers showed us how – with powerful examples of the ways that relationships they built here continue to shape their careers.
McDermott Will & Schulte’s combined alumni network now spans 15,000 professionals, including 7,000 lawyers – broadening the influence of an already powerful community.
During the panel conversation, alum Lauren Palmer, who is currently litigation counsel at Verizon, recalled that the connections she built at her first associates’ retreat shaped the direction of her practice and led her to work with prestigious clients. Many of her colleagues remained a part of her life, personally and professionally, even after leaving the firm.
“One of my fellow summer associates was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and I was talking to her for an hour on the phone this morning. I still hang out with the associates and partners I worked with in DC, and I still get lunch with them,” Palmer said. “Now we can have a different relationship.”
Palmer said one of her earliest McDermott connections was Sarah Rochman, deputy general counsel at The Specialty Alliance (formerly Solaris Health Partners), who started as a summer associate in 2010 and then worked in the Health Group in the Miami office from 2011 to 2018. Rochman conducted Palmer’s on-campus interview and later worked across the hall from her, quickly becoming a trusted sounding board during Palmer’s first year at the firm.
Over time, Rochman brought Palmer in on some of the work she was doing in the Health Group, helping Palmer become a litigation specialist on health and corporate deals. “There’s no way that I would have been doing that kind of work unless I had had those early conversations with Sarah,” Palmer said.
Rochman, who was part of the alumni panel, said she has also benefited from her McDermott connections. It was a partner at McDermott who recommended Rochman for her current in-house position.
“Whether you stay at the firm or you eventually leave, the people that you meet at this stage are your connections in the future,” Rochman said.
Panelists also highlighted the value of the firm’s career coaching and services program, which supports both current lawyers and lawyer alumni as they explore new opportunities or redefine their roles.
Max Brady, who was an associate at McDermott from 2019 to 2022 and is currently an associate general counsel at Guidehouse Inc., said he used the career services program to help him explore opportunities outside of his previous work as a finance lawyer. The program helped him through several practical steps, from updating his resume to negotiating a job offer.
Palmer also checked in with career services throughout her time at McDermott, revising her goals as her circumstances changed, including when she started a family.
“I talked to the firm’s career coaching and services team years before I left,” Palmer said. “You could have those confidential conversations and talk about a longer-term goal. Maybe this is where you want to be forever or maybe it isn’t, but [I wanted to look at] what other things are out there.”
Owen Schmidt, who worked as a Schulte associate from 2011 to 2018 and returned as a partner in 2020, said that when he left the firm, his former colleagues became his go-to source for career advice. While they have been invaluable in offering counsel and sending him opportunities, he said he wishes he had had access to a resource like the McDermott career services program earlier in his career.
Schmidt encouraged associates to take ownership of their careers and fully leverage the McDermott network. “I think there can be this expectation that the firm owes you something, owes you a career, or the partners you work for owe you training. Nobody owes you that; that’s your responsibility,” he said. “You have to take that ownership over your own career, seek out those relationships, ask those questions, be curious.”
Photo left to right: Jennifer Mikulina (Moderator), Max Brady, Lauren Palmer, Owen Schmidt, and Sarah Rochman at the Associates’ Retreat alumni panel.