{"id":2485,"date":"2021-02-16T20:30:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/careerplanning.me.holycross.edu\/?p=2485"},"modified":"2021-02-16T20:30:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:30:01","slug":"meet-alum-christopher-gillis-14-associate-at-ropes-gray-llp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/2021\/02\/16\/meet-alum-christopher-gillis-14-associate-at-ropes-gray-llp\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Alum Christopher Gillis ’14, Associate at Ropes & Gray LLP"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong> Christopher Gillis<\/p>\n

Class Year<\/strong>: 2014<\/p>\n

Title<\/strong>:\u00a0Associate (Attorney)<\/p>\n

Organization Name<\/strong>: Ropes & Gray LLP<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Working with health care clients to help them do deals, solve problems, and expand their business in a highly-regulated industry.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn\/decide it was a good fit for you? \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

After falling in love with economics while I was writing my senior thesis, I thought I was going to pursue graduate work in economics and I found a job doing academic research (through my thesis advisor). I\u00a0did that for a few years and decided I was looking for something that was still very analytical, but that offered a more inter-disciplinary\/multi-disciplinary approach to solving problems, which I was very\u00a0happy to find in the law. I\u2019ve always been a planner and had very certain ideas about what I wanted for my future, so while going to law school certainly\u00a0doesn\u2019t seem like the\u00a0riskiest of moves, it was a real learning experience to have to sit\u00a0with the uncertainty\/disappointment that comes with realizing your original plan just won\u2019t quite work. There wasn\u2019t a lot\u00a0serendipity or many\u00a0surprises that followed the decision not to get an\u00a0economics PhD, I just\u00a0needed to have an honest conversation with myself and\u00a0the important people in my life to figure out what the right path would be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot \u2014 there wasn\u2019t a committee or workshop I\u2019d say no to. Being an involved student was one of the true highlights of my time at Holy Cross. I had a few different positions on SGA’s executive cabinet, ran a few of the weekend workshops, was a co-chair of the Spring Break Immersion Program, and was a Manresa leader.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This question was obviously somewhat answered above, but I was a very proud\u00a0economics major. I think what I loved about economics is similar to what I love about the law. Part of\u00a0the beauty of a liberal arts\u00a0education is that you can deal so much in the abstract and the theoretical, but I really loved the practicality of\u00a0economics, its\u00a0applicability to the real world. The first class I took in the major was\u00a0\u201cHealth Economics\u201d taught by Melissa Boyle (my friend\u00a0to\u00a0this day). It was 2010, so right at the height of public debate over the Affordable Care Act (as if its ever really ended), and I loved how this one class had the ability to inform me and alter the way I thought about an issue that was so tangible and relevant to so many people. That same sensation has only ever really repeated itself for me in law school and, even more so, as a practicing lawyer. It\u2019s also really not hard, as health care lawyer, to trace the\u00a0through-line from Prof. Boyle\u2019s Health Econ class on the second floor of Stein to the work I do everyday now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say the biggest skill I learned is how to\u00a0work<\/em>. I can\u2019t tell you how many people I want to law school with who were able to coast through four years of college at some really great schools because it just wasn\u2019t challenging. I\u00a0always\u00a0felt challenged by the\u00a0workload\u00a0and rigor of Holy Cross and I think investing the time to do well in that environment has paid dividends to me both in law school and as a lawyer. Also, going back to being involved\u00a0\u2014\u00a0I\u00a0learned\u00a0early on, especially in my role as Director of Academic\u00a0Affairs\u00a0on SGA, how to have substantive conversations with highly accomplished professional people and not feel overly intimidated. Being able\u00a0to\u00a0locate that poise feels like a uniquely Holy Cross skill, too. There aren\u2019t too many places that bring students into the fold of\u00a0institutional\u00a0governance as fully as Holy Cross does, and that exposure was invaluable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. What advice do you have for students on campus today?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOn campus\u201d is a funny phrase these days, isn\u2019t it? I think I\u2019d encourage people to treat your time at Holy Cross like a laboratory experiment. You have four years to try things out; see what works and see what doesn’t, and be honest with yourself about what does and what doesn\u2019t. I can promise your life will be richer because of it and things will fall into place.\u00a0 And when you graduate, no matter what major\u00a0you\u2019ve chosen or what future\u00a0you\u2019ve laid for yourself,\u00a0you\u2019ll be accepted into a vibrant alumni community with open arms.<\/p>\n

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Name: Christopher Gillis Class Year: 2014 Title:\u00a0Associate (Attorney) Organization Name: Ropes & Gray LLP   1. In one sentence, what does your job entail? Working with health care clients to help them do deals, solve problems, and expand their business in a highly-regulated industry.   2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your … <\/p>\n

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