Making Partner in a Pandemic: WilmerHale’s Erik Swabb

• Erik Swabb
• 3.15.2021

WilmerHale Partner Erik Swabb was featured in Bloomberg Law’s “Making Partner in a Pandemic” series. He discusses the impact of COVID-19 on his work in the firm’s crisis management and strategic response group and how his prior experiences in the Marine Corps shaped his commitment to public service. In this article, Swabb shares that choosing a law firm with similar values helped pave his path to the partnership.

Excerpt: In March 2020, WilmerHale closed its offices and sent employees home to work remotely. On the subway ride home on my last day in our Washington DC, office, one image stood out to me—that of a rider clutching a computer screen like it was a life jacket on a sinking ship. Many of us on the train undoubtedly shared his anxiety.

The last time I had that feeling was on September 11, 2001, when I was attending college in New York City. What I did not realize back in March was how the pandemic would impact my practice group and reinforce certain lessons I have learned on the path to partner at a law firm.

Read Erik Swabb’s piece in Bloomberg Law’s series.