Hillary Hamilton '95

English and American Literatures and Film and Media Culture double major with a minor in Modern Scandinavian Society & Culture (semester at Stockholm University)

Senior Associate, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, Los Angeles Office

“Resist the urge to feel confined by the choices you’ve made so far, to grimly continue down a career path because you feel obligated to do so. Your Middlebury education (particularly with its emphasis on writing) is an adaptable tool that will serve you well, no matter what you choose to pursue. Most importantly, recognize that professional fulfillment can come from unexpected sources.”

Tell us what you do.

I am an attorney in the Los Angeles office of a large international law firm, representing a variety of clients in complex commercial litigation in federal and state courts. My practice focuses particularly on defending California false advertising consumer class actions and intellectual property litigation.

What have you done since Middlebury?

The summer after I graduated from Middlebury, I interned at a film production company in Los Angeles before starting a two-year masters’ program in journalism at the University of Southern California, where I interned at the Los Angeles Times magazine and a CD-ROM trade magazine (I recognize that I’m really dating myself here). While fun and challenging, these experiences revealed that neither journalism nor the film industry were fields where I could see myself working long-term.

After I graduated from USC, loathe to plunge headlong into yet another advanced degree, I spent a year working as a paralegal at a venerable, but now defunct, law firm in Boston where I experienced big law firm practice, warts and all. (As an aside, I should point out that I obtained both the film internship and the paralegal job with the help of the Career Development office and Middlebury alumni connections, which are incredible, and for which I am still grateful.)
In 1998, I went to law school at the University of Virginia and started working at Skadden’s Los Angeles office as an associate in the litigation group after my graduation in 2001. My career took a somewhat strange turn after I had my son in 2003, when my husband David (also Midd class of 95) and I determined we wanted to raise kids closer to family, and an opportunity arose for us to return to Middlebury in early 2004.

When I approached my supervising partner with the news of my move back east, he came up with what was then a novel proposal—working remotely from Vermont to wrap up the case I’d been working on for over a year. One case turned into another, and one year turned into another, so I’ve been working full time as a Skadden litigator in Los Angeles for 18 years now… from Middlebury. This all seems run of the mill post-2020, but it was an unusual and flexible solution that enabled me to keep doing high profile and challenging legal work without the stressors of living and commuting in Los Angeles.

How has your choice of majors influenced your life after graduation? 

As an English major, my emphasis was on non-fiction writing, conducting interviews, accumulating facts, and putting them together in a compelling story, which has translated well to litigation. The skills I learned as a film major—identifying and exploring themes and elements in a work, analyzing what a director or actor was trying to accomplish, and then communicating those ideas clearly in a critical piece—also figure prominently in my current profession. Researching the law, identifying key facts to advance my theory and dispel the opposition’s arguments, and weaving those elements into a compelling story are all key to being an effective advocate.

When did you know which major you were going to choose?

I knew coming into Middlebury that I’d be an English major—reading and writing have always been my passions. First semester I took Film Form & Film Sense with Professor Leger Grindon, and then I found myself taking one film class after another, with an emphasis on film history and criticism. This naturally flowed into a double major, which I declared at the beginning of my junior year, I believe.

How did you decide what career path you wanted to pursue after graduating?

As a senior at Middlebury, I chose USC because I could take film courses at the renowned film school while earning my masters’ in journalism. My plan was to be a film critic for a magazine or newspaper (a now adorably antiquated pre-Internet notion). But on my arrival at USC I met a Annenberg Fellow who was a film critic at a national newspaper, who promptly dissuaded me from that career path with bitter tales of industry flacks and PR junkets, not to mention job scarcity.

Needless to say, I was feeling a bit adrift as I entered my final semester at USC, which included a mandatory Media Law course. I am not someone who always wanted to be a lawyer. I was never a fan of legal dramas and had long dismissed the practice of law as boring, filled with disappointed English majors resigned to a life of tedious contract review. Much to my surprise, the class was fascinating, as we debated topics like protecting anonymous sources, fair use, and whether the public’s right to know outweighed an individual’s right to privacy. (Perhaps tellingly, given my later vocation, I was firmly in the individual’s camp.) One day the professor took me out to lunch and spent the better part of an hour successfully convincing me that the law (or at least law school) was where I belonged.

I was not a huge fan of law school, but once I actually started working as a litigator, I knew I’d found my calling. Working on complex cases with brilliant colleagues, using the research and writing skills I’d been developing all along, has been more rewarding that I ever could have imagined. I have since apologized to my Midd friends for mocking them for taking the LSAT back in the day.

Finally, what advice or suggestions do you have for current students as they consider their post-Middlebury futures?

Resist the urge to feel confined by the choices you’ve made so far, to grimly continue down a career path because you feel obligated to do so. Your Middlebury education (particularly with its emphasis on writing) is an adaptable tool that will serve you well, no matter what you choose to pursue. Most importantly, recognize that professional fulfillment can come from unexpected sources.

Learn more about the English and American Literatures and Film and Media Culture Departments at Middlebury

>>Go back to the Alumni Profiles page.