Washington Lawyer March/April 2026
By Joseph S. Gerbasi
In early September 1989, I started my legal career as a litigation associate at a large law firm in Washington, D.C. The first few weeks were a whirlwind of navigating the Metro system while tackling interesting work over long hours with smart and likeable colleagues in a sophisticated and dynamic litigation practice.
That first season of my career even included an over-the-top firm holiday party in December at a historic venue in Georgetown. All was going according to plan.
After the start of the new year, however, things began to shift at the firm. Work assignments in the litigation section dried up, people were whispering in the hallways about unpaid client bills, branch offices in other cities closed abruptly (goodbye, Sacramento!), and partners with lengthy client lists departed quickly and quietly.
As first-year associates, all that my cohorts and I could really do was try to assess and somehow react to these unexpected circumstances. On a Thursday morning in February, one of our four name partners convened a full staff meeting and announced that the firm would be closing its doors permanently the next day. He gave little explanation beyond a fast decline in profitability and a snowballing loss of paying clients. There would be no severance pay, and the other three name partners were nowhere to be seen.
Although signs of tumult had been apparent for several weeks, the suddenness of the closure, lack of detailed explanation from leadership, and callous treatment of the firm’s employees jarred me. I remember being disappointed at the loss of a great job at a place I loved and was dismayed at having to start over with a job search — with no paycheck.
Moving on From Setbacks
While this experience was an early education on the financial fragility of a law partnership — even a large one — it would become a valuable early career lesson in resilience and adaptability. I learned that, above all, when faced with unexpected negative circumstances, one must never panic.
After a few weeks, I started a new, similar job with another D.C. law firm before embarking on a public sector career in 1991. I joined what was known as the District of Columbia Office of the Corporation Counsel (OCC) — now the Office of the Attorney General — in the Criminal Division’s Child Abuse and Neglect Section. At OCC, new prosecutors were handed large caseloads with immediate, extensive responsibility in each case. We evaluated and filed charges, conducted discovery, tried cases, prepared dispositions, and handled case reviews, working with both Metropolitan Police Department officers and Department of Human Services social workers.
The pace was fast and resources were thin. In fact, this was the first half of the 1990s when the District government was in a major financial crisis. At OCC, we were buying our own pens, highlighters, and legal pads and bringing in our own toilet paper for the office restrooms. Annual pay raises? Forget it — we learned to not even ask. These conditions persisted to some degree for my entire six-year tenure there.
So, what made it bearable? First, I was learning every day how to be a courtroom litigator and, more specifically, how to be a prosecutor seeking just results in difficult cases. Second, I had fantastic colleagues who were bright, helpful, and collaborative, and we all sat in the same boat paddling upstream. We carried an overarching sense of mission and purpose. Amidst what might seem now to have been dismal circumstances, my work experience was actually quite exhilarating, albeit draining. I was buoyed by first-rate colleagues who were similarly committed to our work but maintained a healthy sense of humor about conditions in the District government.
After six years with OCC, I joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 1997. I was hired as a trial attorney in the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, and I later moved to the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section (NDDS). Along the way, I also served in various temporary detail roles as a special assistant U.S. attorney in D.C. and Alaska, and at the department’s Professional Responsibility Advisory Office.
I retired voluntarily in March 2025 as NDDS’s acting deputy chief for policy.
My Words of Wisdom
After 34 years as a career prosecutor at OCC and DOJ — where office supplies and toilet paper were plentiful — I look back now and see some themes emerge from my experience. I’d like to share a few brief lessons learned.
Your colleagues are powerfully important. I was constantly inspired by the skill, intelligence, and humanity of my colleagues in the Criminal Division at DOJ, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, and OCC, many of whom became lifelong friends. These were attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff who would willingly stay late to help me when they had their own equally important work to handle. At DOJ, in particular, everyone understood our team-first approach because it was vital to achieving the department’s aims. Try to see and appreciate the best qualities in those around you, and be a good colleague in turn.
Mentors are important role models. The topic of mentoring for younger attorneys comes up a lot, and the message is often to “find a great mentor.” This is easier said than done! I think early career attorneys need a more specific mindset.
First, think about what you would like in a mentor. Does it have to be someone in your practice area? Someone of a particular experience level? Someone who shares your outside interests? Does it even have to be someone in your firm or agency? These considerations can narrow the field. Try to align personalities and interests, and choose carefully.
Second, once the relationship seems to have taken hold, be coachable. I have coached youth baseball for more than 20 years, and coaches want players in the dugout who are willing to listen, learn, and implement new ideas because that is how they improve on the field and in their approach to the game. So, as a mentee, be open to new ideas, methods, and rationales so you can learn.
Many people, including mentors, often tell younger colleagues to “be confident.” Yes, but how exactly? It takes years to build professional confidence, and there is no recipe. Here is how I did it: by being intellectually curious and exploring new areas of law as much as possible. This takes courage, but it develops versatility and adaptability. Knowing that you can handle just about anything is the start of confidence.
Understand the importance of interpersonal “soft” skills. Cordiality and empathy go a long way. People notice simple gestures. When I was a first-year associate so many years ago, several senior associates and others made a point of taking me and other new attorneys to lunch — not for a free meal but to demonstrate how to have a proper business lunch with colleagues or clients. Is this a dying art? I hope not. Civility, politeness, and the ability to participate in a professional conversation are essential skills.
If you are supervising others, remember what it’s like to be supervised. What did you value in your supervisor, and what did you discount? As a supervisor, look for ways to positively reinforce others, but be realistic and selective. Most supervisees can see right through excessive or misplaced praise. Make yours count for something.
I have two specific pointers for newer attorneys that I certainly didn’t learn in law school. First, recognize poor lawyering and work hard to avoid it. In my experience, most bad lawyering is just sloppy lawyering, such as neglecting to pay attention to details or failing to communicate clearly and frequently with colleagues or clients. Be aware of those traps and sidestep them.
Second, don’t stop doing what you love just because tradition-based norms say that you should do something else. If part of your practice, for example, is representing clients in landlord–tenant court or small businesses in contract disputes, and that work puts wind in your sails, keep doing it even if you are growing your practice in other areas or others in your office want you to take “bigger” cases. Only you get to determine what fulfills you at the end of the day.
Finally, for newer attorneys seeking to enter public service, be persistent. I landed an offer at DOJ as a lateral on my third attempt. Federal and state agencies often work with rigid, narrow hiring windows, offer little flexibility, and tend to move slowly due to lean staffing. Be patient and be prepared to clearly and succinctly convey why you wish to work there, as well as how your experience has prepared you for this new set of duties.
These are challenging times in the legal profession, but I learned these ideas over the course of a long career. I hope they guide you to similar, lasting professional success.
In his retirement, Joseph S. Gerbasi spends his time writing, fishing, and coaching youth baseball on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. He can be reached at [email protected].
