Profiles
Greg Husisian Strikes the Right Balance Between International Trade Practice and Parenting an Olympian
August 26, 2024
Foley & Lardner LLP partner Gregory Husisian recently returned from a trip abroad — but not one related to his international trade practice. He was in Paris to support his daughter, Hadley, who was representing the United States in the Olympics.
Ranked 14th in the world, épée fencer Hadley Husisian ended up finishing 12th in the individual event, losing 15–12 to world number one Vivian Kong, who won the individual gold medal. Team USA finished seventh in the women’s épée team event.
Hadley Husisian first developed an interest in fencing when she saw an episode of the children’s television show iCarly where two characters engaged in the sport. She wanted to take archery lessons, but given the popularity of The Hunger Games at that time, classes were full, making fencing an attractive alternative. She took up épée, one of the three forms of modern fencing, and has since become one of the world’s top competitors in the sport.
Greg Husisian has been involved throughout his daughter’s development as an athlete, shuttling her to practices and competitions, studying her opponents, and collecting a library of footage of top competitors from around the world. As her armorist, he brings a full fencing bag filled with a second set of extra equipment to every tournament, helps maintain and repair her swords and body cords, and tracks her bouts.
“I do not act as her coach,” says Greg, who has never fenced. “I just keep things going and make certain that she can concentrate on just fencing. I’m part parent, part NASCAR pit crew.”
He cites a number of reasons why he is able to travel in support of his daughter’s advancement in the sport while serving as chair of Foley & Lardner’s international trade and national security practice. Many of his clients are multinational companies, so it’s natural to connect remotely, either over video or phone. At times, he coordinates travel to accommodate work abroad. After an event in Budapest, for example, his daughter flew home while he traveled onward to Copenhagen to meet with a client, who was amused that he showed up in a fencing sweatshirt. A competition in Germany doubled as an opportunity to visit a German law firm to work on cross-marketing.
Greg says his law firm’s pragmatic approach to partner performance is helpful. “As long as the practice is running well and the clients are happy, then the firm is happy,” he says.
The value of having a firm that is supportive of its attorneys’ outside interests was best demonstrated in Hadley’s sophomore year of high school. “She was competing on three different circuits — the national, the cadet international, and the junior international circuits — and the pressure was increased because that was also the year before her college recruiting would begin,” Greg says. “That year, I traveled 185 days between work and fencing commitments, so I was traveling more than I was in the office. But I billed plenty of hours and achieved good outcomes for my clients, so they were happy.”
“Foley trusts its people, and if you are performing, they’ll give you leeway to manage your practice. I’m fortunate to be at this particular firm,” he adds.
Greg draws on his experience as a partner in defining his role in his daughter’s efforts. “I’m a decent sports dad because I recognize my area of competence,” he says. “There are areas adjacent to my practice where I recognize that I need to bring in a partner with more experience because I’m semi-competent at it, but they do it every day. I bring that to bear with fencing. Although I’ve seen my daughter fence several thousand bouts, that doesn’t mean that I know as much as her fencing coach, who is on strip with her at every important tournament.”
There are parallels between how Greg allows his daughter to take the lead in managing her fencing career and how he mentors younger associates, he says. “What I’ve learned as a partner is that you can’t force young attorneys to do things exactly the way you want, or to do their jobs exactly the way that I did when I was an associate,” he says. In both contexts, Greg notes, you can give someone the tools and opportunities, but the desire to succeed and the willingness to put in the work to be successful fall on the individual. “I’ve seen a lot of parents who push their kid too hard, and they just quit,” he adds.
Greg says his daughter, as a young competitor, relishes her successes but has the chance to improve on her results. “I don’t have to be the 14th best international trade lawyer in the world to have a successful career. She still has some runway to improve, and to medal, but one thing that can’t be taken away is that she’s an Olympian,” he says.
Hadley has other opportunities for victory ahead, including the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles. She will be resuming her studies at Princeton and rejoining the Princeton fencing team, which finished second at the NCAA championships in 2023. She’s pursuing a degree in history and intends to go on to law school.
The timing could work out nicely. “She could take a gap year between Princeton and law school. That would be the year to qualify for 2028,” Greg says. And just as he has been there for every one of Hadley’s tournaments since she was 11, Greg will be at those tournaments as a Big Law partner who moonlights as a part-time armorist.
