黛布拉·布鲁诺
2017年5月1日
With members in all 50 states and more than 80 countries, the D.C. 酒吧正在开始一个常规功能来介绍组成我们社区的人. Read about your peers, their lives, and their work around the world.
Michael Allen, 54, senior corporate counsel at Nordstrom, Inc., 他有一个错综复杂的生活故事——他是一个家庭男人，和他妹妹的孩子们关系密切, a lawyer who chose the law after an 主显节 in Jamaica, 他还是一个政治迷，有勇气辞掉工作，为他信任的候选人工作. D.C. 酒吧 talked with Allen to explore how this life of family connections, 意外的惊喜, and impulsive choices got him where he is today.
你是如何选择从事法律职业的?
我有个姐姐, 当我上大学的时候, 在做了一名哲学教授之后，他决定去哈佛法学院. 我是非洲裔美国人，在我姐姐成为澳博app之前，我从未见过澳博app。. I grew up in a small town in Georgia. None of the dads and moms were lawyers. 我姐姐在教书，后来她在国家人文基金会找到了一份工作.
When Reagan was elected, he cut the budget for NEH. 她不得不重新评估她的生活和事业，并决定去法学院. 她认为她可以把哲学和法律结合起来，这就是她最终所做的. She got a great job at Cravath, Swaine & 纽约摩尔澳博app事务所.
哲学是如何起作用的呢?
For the first two or three years of her legal career, she was just a grind-it-out associate at a big law firm. There was no philosophy in her life. 我想这让她很困扰，所以她最后离开了，回去教书. 后来，她开设了法律和哲学相结合的课程，并在乔治敦大学任教.
你在哪里? 来 in?
我当时住在亚特兰大，我想我要去读商学院. I was admitted into the University of Georgia’s MBA Program, 但离我开始工作还有一个月, I took a trip to Jamaica and I had an 主显节. Something said, “Don’t go to business school; go to law school.”
An 主显节?
可能是维生素D. 我真的漂浮在木筏上，阳光照在我的脸上，一切都很平静. 我在这个世界上无忧无虑. 生活很美好. I guess when I slowed down and focused on me, 有什么东西击中了我，告诉我要追随自己的激情:政治和法律. 我回到亚特兰大，打电话给我妹妹说:“我想上法学院.“我们都同意D.C. 是该去的地方吗.
你在D做了什么.C.?
我参加了乔治敦法律中心的晚间课程，继续工作. For the first year, I worked as a bookkeeper for the law school. I like libraries, so then I got a job at the Georgetown law library. 当我申请的时候, I had decided that I wanted to be来 a law librarian, marrying my passion for law and politics with my love of libraries.
你的下一步是什么?
在我法学院的第二年, 在半夜, 我妹妹发现她要领养她想收养的孩子了. 突然, this busy law professor and her husband, 谁是澳博app事务所的合伙人, had a three-month-old child they weren’t ready for. 他们需要一个保姆，所以，作为支付我学费的交换，他们雇佣了我. 白天我会照看孩子. 她从乔治敦回来，我就把孩子递给她，然后匆匆赶往乔治敦.
So, you got a sense of what life with a baby was like?
我有了这样的想法——我想我可以在我侄子睡觉的时候学习. But when he took a nap, I was so exhausted I had to take a nap. 即便如此，这可能是我经历过的最好的事情之一.
Was your sister at Georgetown when you graduated?
It was one of the greatest days of my life. On my graduation day, she was on the stage to hand me my diploma.
你妹妹现在在哪儿?
安妮塔·艾伦现在在宾夕法尼亚大学担任副教务长. 我一定要和她和她的家人一起过感恩节或圣诞节.
你做保姆多久了?
大概有一年半了. 后来我姐姐能够控制她的日程安排，慢慢地，我又回到了找一份白天的工作.
白天的工作是什么?
为D工作.C. 酒吧. I worked for the Ethics Committee as a law clerk for two attorneys. 这太棒了，它让我放弃了成为法律图书管理员的愿望. I wanted to be来 an ethics and professional responsibility lawyer. I became the executive editor of the 乔治敦法律伦理杂志.
你的道路又改变了?
然后它变成了金钱的诱惑. One day I was walking through the halls of Georgetown Law, 我遇到了一位大学时的老朋友，他是D州一家澳博app事务所的助理.C. She said, “Why don’t you try to be来 a summer associate?“我成了安德森基尔的暑期助理，这家公司在华盛顿有一个很棒的办公室.C. 我专注于保险诉讼，这让我开始学习诉讼.
最后你搬到了美国.S. 律政司.
They were hiring environmental litigators at the time. 我当时在做保险案件，潜在的问题是超级基金案件, so I knew a lot about Superfund and environmental cleanups.
所以，这让你走上了一条新的道路?
我决定成为一名环境澳博app，并有机会前往美国.S. 环境al Protection Agency as a staff attorney. 这也让我第一次感受到了成为一名内部澳博app的感觉. I knew, though, that I didn’t want to be a litigator.
那么?
我想更多地关注商业方面，制定战略. 在环境保护署，我被分配到国际部，处理条约和许多有关美国环境保护署的工作.S.墨西哥边境. 我还在路易斯安那州和密西西比州等地做了一些环境正义的工作, 帮助保护一些在大型工厂阴影下的小镇, 生活在被污染的空气和水中.
What happened after Al Gore lost the 2000 election?
I decided to go back into private practice. 我成为了P&盖茨有限责任公司，现在被称为K&L盖茨. There was no real rhyme or reason at that time in my life. I was still going with my gut as to where I wanted to be. I knew, though, that I didn’t want to be a litigator. 后来，我看到了一家名为Nextel的小型电信公司的内部职位. 他们正在寻找一名环境澳博app来帮助他们解决有关铁塔和电信基础设施建设的问题. Then they were bought by Sprint and I became a Sprint in-house lawyer.
You’ve had some involvement in politics. 这是怎么发生的?
I heard about this guy named 酒吧ack Obama. I had heard his speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, 我想, “这是真正的交易, 我想为这家伙工作.于是，在2007年，我辞去了工作，打算免费为他工作. 但后来我听到了希拉里·克林顿的演讲，我被震撼了，完全被震撼了. 这是我听过的最聪明的人，比她丈夫还聪明. 我在那一刻决定，我的政治立场与希拉里更加一致, so I volunteered my services through 2007-08. 我靠我的积蓄生活.
After Clinton lost to Obama, what did you do?
I thought, “Oh my gosh, I’ve got to get a job.” I saw that Microsoft was looking for an environmental lawyer. To accept their offer, I had to move to Seattle. 在D住了20年之后.C., I jumped on a plane and moved to Seattle. 我这样做了四年，但我又开始为奥巴马的连任竞选工作. I was living off my savings—I’m not married and I have no kids. I packed up my stuff and moved to Tampa, where the Obama Florida campaign headquarters were, and worked on issues such as voter suppression and enforcement.
在奥巴马再次当选之后?
我回到西雅图后，一个朋友告诉我，诺德斯特龙公司有一个内部法律职位. 我什么都做一点——监管工作、合规、合同.
你在诺德斯特龙的内部职位与其他内部职位有何不同?
We are a tiny, tiny legal department, which is great. 这是一份非常令人满意的工作，我们在零售领域做得非常好, 尽管这是一个艰难的行业.
诺德斯特龙(Nordstrom)将伊万卡·特朗普(Ivanka Trump)的商品下架，引发了澳博app. 你参与了吗?
我只是在看. 但在我参加的一些会议上，我们谈到了与伊万卡和她的团队进行非常艰难的对话, 最后归结到数字上. 很不幸，有些人认为我们是在表明政治立场. Maybe the boycott had something to do with those numbers, 但对我们来说, (伊万卡的)东西卖不出去. 我的很多朋友都在店里购物，感觉自己是抵抗运动的一部分!
