In this friendly and candid exchange, Proskauer partner Kerry Shriver and alumna , Vice President & Counsel at Wellington Management, recall how their time together at Proskauer impacted their career trajectories, the individuals who invested in their personal and professional growth, and the influential and enduring connections they’ve formed and maintain that continue to support and shape their careers.
Fulfilling a Dream to Move In-House
Kerry Shriver: It’s good to see you, Meredith. What have you been up to since leaving Proskauer in October 2017?
Meredith Moran: I initially left Proskauer to take my first in-house role at Manulife Investment Management, working with their private markets team. If you had talked to me when I was in law school, my primary goal was to eventually become an in-house counsel. So, when I happened to see a job posting for an in-house fund formation role in the summer of 2017, I went for it.
I was at Manulife for just over four years, working on many of the things I had been involved in at Proskauer—fund formation and governance, some LP primary investments, and some co-investments. Now I’m at Wellington Management on the alternatives legal team, and my role is almost entirely similar: fundraising, fund governance, and some transactional work.
Kerry Shriver: We’ve spoken a lot since you’ve been in your current role, discussing secondaries, credit and all the fund-related things we do over here, and thinking about ways that we can help each other and work together. What are your favorite things about your current role?
Meredith Moran: I loved the fund work I did at Proskauer. I enjoyed solving problems for clients, getting into the weeds on the fund documents and structure. No two days are the same, so it feels like it’s a very dynamic area to work in. I also feel fortunate that both of my in-house roles have been quite entrepreneurial, despite working within a large institution. The Wellington private equity program is fairly new, so thinking about how we’ve grown and adapted over time is a constant source of interest.
“I think it came through that we all cared about each other both personally and professionally, and there was always support and help, even if you were struggling with something others weren’t involved in, they would still step in to help you.”
Kerry Shriver, Partner, Proskauer
Mentors, Memories and Meaningful Moments
Kerry Shriver: It sounds a lot like the work we were doing together at Proskauer before you left. I remember the two of us working on different fund formations, but in the same seat, with some challenging negotiations. Some of that was challenging, so I wanted to ask—who did you lean on at Proskauer?
Meredith Moran: Whenever I think of my time at Proskauer, I think about spending many evenings problem-solving with Carter Noon. He always used to come in and say, “I have a real brain bender for you,” and we’d sit there with our hard copy documents trying to decipher what a clause meant or maybe decipher the handwriting on a markup we had received, bouncing ideas off each other and brainstorming.
I also owe a debt of gratitude to Mike Suppappola. He taught me a lot about how to communicate and interact with clients. He took me along on some business development opportunities that really paid dividends. As I’m now in-house, the biggest part of my job is talking to the people who would have been my external clients at Proskauer. So, learning how to communicate in a way that resonates and conveys key facts is very important.
Kerry Shriver: Any lasting memories from your time here that you want to share?
Meredith Moran: I remember that we always managed to have fun, and everyone enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone that I was surrounded by at Proskauer loved what they were doing and never got so mired in stress that they couldn’t crack some jokes or, if it was August and Friday, sneak out after work for a happy hour somewhere. And I always said, especially when I was first leaving to go in-house, “If I were to stay in private practice, I can’t imagine doing it anywhere other than Proskauer.”
Kerry Shriver: Yes, I think it came through that we all cared about each other both personally and professionally, and there was always support and help, even if you were struggling with something others weren’t involved in, they would still step in to help you.
Meredith Moran: That’s something that, as I’ve met people from different places, I think I took for granted a lot. Everyone was always generous with their time in a very reciprocal way.
“I remember that we always managed to have fun, and everyone enjoyed each other’s company. Everyone that I was surrounded by at Proskauer loved what they were doing and never got so mired in stress that they couldn’t crack some jokes or, if it was August and Friday, sneak out after work for a happy hour somewhere.”
Meredith Moran, Vice President & Counsel, Wellington Management
The Power of the Proskauer Network
Kerry Shriver: Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Proskauer alumni community?
Meredith Moran: For people still at Proskauer, I would say, immerse yourself in the people and the community. It can be easy to keep your head down and think, “Oh, I need to churn this agreement out. I just need to do the work,” but the people are such a great resource. It’s a small legal community and a lot of people participate in the same industry events. For example, Funds in Focus is always a great event to return to and see all the people that I was around every day at Proskauer.
To other alumni, the alumni events have been fun for reconnecting with people currently still at the Firm and others that have moved on to different roles at different investment managers. I feel like I made the best use of my time at Proskauer by immersing myself in both the work and the community.
Kerry Shriver: And not only that, but you also probably run into other alums elsewhere in the industry and even at Wellington. I think our colleague recently moved from Proskauer to Wellington. Is that a special connection? And if so, how?
Meredith Moran: Definitely. She’s been an amazing colleague, and I think knowing many of the same people and the substantial training she received at Proskauer has been important. You can’t really do anything else in this industry without being solid on both the substance and delivery of advice and communication with clients, and Shummi has demonstrated both of those things in spades. It’s great to have that common Proskauer connection.
