Page 12 - Phoenix Vol 11 No 2

Nicholle
ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH
Harris
rowth through
Mentorship
WRITTEN BY VICKI HOGUE-DAVIES PHOTOGRAPHED BY ANDREW PAUL
Decorating Nicholle Harris’s o ce wall is a quote from Supreme Court Justice urgood Marshall that she believes personi es her career growth. It is also her driving force in helping others prog-
ress. e quote reads: “None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We got here because somebody—a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony or a few nuns—bent down and helped us pick up our boots.”
For Harris, a partner at Gust Rosenfeld practicing in public and municipal law, mentorship has always played an important role in her life. It was the encouragement of her 4th grade teacher who was married to a lawyer who told her to follow her dreams that rst set Harris on the path to her successful career. Harris was pleasantly sur- prised when she heard her teacher yelling from the stands during her law school graduation in 2007. She has main- tained a relationship with that teacher over the years.
ROAD TO LAW
Harris’s interest in the law developed at an early age. She remembers her rst introduction to the legal eld while watching the television show L.A. Law. By the age of 10, Harris had rmly decided she wanted to pursue a career in the law.
In spite of the television show’s dramatic courtroom scenes—about which Harris laughingly notes that defen- dants confessed and trials were easily and neatly wrapped up in an hour—Harris did not have an interest in litiga-
tion. She knew she would enjoy the transactional side of things and aspired to serve as in-house counsel for a cor- poration.
Prior to going to law school, Harris spent time working at an ad agency in California pursuing her second career goal of becoming an art director. at career diversion came about because of her interest in advertising, so Har- ris decided to get her undergraduate degree in business administration and marketing. However, the desire to pursue a career in the law never le her and a er a few years in the marketing eld working as a media buyer for McCann-Erickson in Los Angeles, she decided to return to the University of Arizona for law school.
Before coming to Gust Rosenfeld in 2011, Harris served as Assistant Attorney General at the Arizona At- torney General’s O ce. It was there that she met Susan Segal, who became her mentor. When the administration changed, Segal returned to Gust Rosenfeld, where she had worked previously, and contacted Harris to encourage her to join the rm.
“Susan has been a mentor to me and has helped me nav- igate the world of private practice as I’ve progressed from associate to partner,” Harris says. “I appreciate her candor and her support.”
Harris found her niche when she joined the municipal law practice group at the rm, serving as general counsel for various municipal corporations across the state. She became a partner at the rm in 2016.
ATTORNEY AT LAW MAGAZINE · PHOENIX· VOL. 11 NO. 2 12