Lisa Page ‘06: Living Her Dream
Lisa Page never expected that she would land her ideal job immediately after graduating law school, but her dream came to fruition shortly before Thanksgiving 2005. She was driving when the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) called and informed her that she had earned a position as one of five new federal prosecutors in its Organized Crime and Racketeering Section through their honors program. “I pulled over and screamed. I’ve never been so excited,” she says.
The road to Lisa’s current position began when she worked for the Federal Trade Commission prior to law school. Her participation in the Moritz DC summer program, where she worked for the Federal Reserve Board, further instilled her commitment to public service. However, it was during the beginning of her second year at Moritz that she honed in on wanting to be a federal prosecutor. She took almost every criminal law class at Moritz, and she found that “the quality of the teaching and the presentation of the material proved more interesting to me than any sort of civil work I’d experienced.” She gives credit to Professor Krivoshey’s evidence course, which helps her think on her feet and make quick decisions in her role at the DOJ.
Lisa works in the DOJ’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. “Because I work at the headquarters, I prosecute in all jurisdictions, and because I work with organized crime, I travel a lot,” she explains. She began her work with a six-month detail in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia. She found it enlightening to work in DC, given its unique legal structure. Her training period imbued her with a thicker skin, and the experience provided her with numerous situations where “something unexpected happens and you have to keep your cool and persevere.”
What she finds both most fulfilling and challenging about her work is her high level of autonomy. She has her own cases where she works with the FBI, and she directs her own investigations. She enjoys working with her colleagues, whom she describes as “phenomenal.” She loves that she was “immediately entrusted with a lot of work,” and is now in the midst of her first jury trial, with nearly a dozen bench trials under her belt. Lisa also appreciates the balance between work and life that her position allows. She stays late when she wants to, but she does not feel tethered to work at all hours because she controls her own schedule.
With a year of experience behind her, Lisa still expresses amazement at the fact that she spends her days doing something for which she has such passion. During law school, she expected that she’d have to spend at least five years as a district attorney before becoming a federal prosecutor, but instead was able to launch her dream right away. The initial excitement she felt when she got that fateful call shows no signs of wearing off — “I still pinch myself,” she says.
From her personal ‘style-change’ and so-called cooperation at both closed-door hearings, one wonders if her handlers have book or other deals in her future.
ps. Her father is a policy writer, and Lisa has edited his work.