Looking back on her career, Heather Kafele, a Washington, DC-based litigation partner at global law firm Shearman & Sterling, remembers that she was not exactly sure which career path she wanted to take. She was certain about one thing, though: “I was very passionate about the world’s injustices.”
Before going to law school, Kafele had the opportunity to reside in Kenya on a grant to study international development. There, she was able to do some soul searching and considered many different options, including earning a Ph.D. in philosophy and staying in academia or taking an alternative route to practice law. After taking both the GRE and the LSAT admissions exams, Kafele decided to pursue a legal career.
“I loved law school,” said Kafele, “and I continued to follow a non-traditional path.” Instead of spending her summers at big law firms, Kafele worked at the public defender’s office and was convinced this is where she would start her career after graduating from law school. However, faced with a pile of debt after graduation, Kafele made the prudent decision to join a big firm before pursuing her passion of becoming a public defender.
Life had something else in store for Kafele, however. She discovered that the type of work she did at Shearman & Sterling was extremely rewarding as it involved cutting-edge and thorny legal issues, diverse clients and industries, and an opportunity to travel and see the world.
“I never expected to stay at a big firm, but I found myself passionate about the work,” Kafele said. “Being a trial lawyer means working with witnesses, documents and facts to weave together a compelling story and draw judges and jurors into that story. This process is both challenging and thrilling.”
“Women have a unique ability to connect with other people – including judges, jurors and witnesses – which are a true asset for women litigators,” she added.
One of the most significant and memorable experiences in Kafele’s career came when she had the opportunity to participate in a three-week jury trial on a big antitrust case. “These cases rarely go to trial so this experience was very unique and exciting,” Kafele noted. Recently, Kafele represented Ardagh Group in a high-profile litigation brought by the Federal Trade Commission challenging Ardagh’s acquisition of Saint Gobain’s US glass container business. And just this week, Kafele scored a significant victory on behalf of several major banks upholding New York’s “separate entity rule” and extending it (for the first time) to document subpoenas.
Special Interest in Cartel Law and Pro Bono Work
Kafele has extensive experience in international cartel enforcement matters, handling complex multi-jurisdictional cartel and grand jury investigations, as well as class action litigations. According to her, many more jurisdictions other than the US and EU are developing cartel laws or enforcing existing cartel laws, making it an international norm and changing the way companies do business. She explained, “The dynamic of cartel law has really changed, which makes it a very exciting area to work in. Since Shearman & Sterling is a global firm, I advise companies all over the world and help them investigate issues, understand the US process and coordinate with counsel in other jurisdictions.”