Squire Patton Boggs has hired its first two attorneys from the DiversityLab’s OnRamp 200 Fellowship initiative, a collective legal profession goal to bring 200 women lawyers who have taken extended career hiatuses back into the legal profession by year 2025.
Ayana Partee and Chrystie F. Swiney join as associates in the Public and Infrastructure Finance Practice. Michele Connell, Squire’s Global Managing Partner who spearheaded the firm’s involvement with the OnRamp initiative commented, “Re-engaging talented women practitioners who have taken time away from the profession is an important way to increase representation across the legal industry and aligns with our firm’s long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion. We are delighted to partner with DiversityLab to welcome Ayana and Chrystie to the firm.”
Resident in New York, Ms. Partee is experienced in public offerings, public/private partnerships, transactions involving credit enhancement facilities such as letters of credit and liquidity facilities, LIHTC, certificates of participation, municipal infrastructure projects, including projects for transportation, airports and water, sewer and electrical systems, and other matters. Before establishing her own firm to provide comprehensive legal services to individuals, small businesses, start-ups, and non-profit organizations, with intellectual property matters and commercial transactions, Ms. Partee was a rising associate with Bookhardt & O’toole. There she was instrumental in securing funding for the revitalization of Denver Union Station. The project garnered national attention as one of the largest redevelopments in the United States. Ms. Partee is a three-time graduate of Howard University, an active community volunteer and a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers and Northeast Women in Public Finance.
Ms. Swiney is an attorney who has spent most of her post-law school career in the NGO sector involved in human rights, international law, and international development work. She began her legal career as a legal adviser for the Department of State, where she served in the US Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq and helped to develop Iraqi legislation on a variety of issues, including non-profit law. Following this assignment, she held legal positions at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the Constitution Project, and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator, and served as a consulting legal adviser for the Global Parliament of Mayors and Oxford University Press. Resident in Washington D.C., Ms. Swiney has also worked as an adjunct professor for the College of William and Mary and a Research Fellow at Georgetown Law Center. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary (BA), Harvard Law School (JD), Oxford University (MPhil, Modern Middle Eastern Studies), and Georgetown (MA, International Relations). Ms. Swiney has published three law review articles, two books and many op-eds, and is an active member of her beloved Falls Church City community, where she serves as the Vice-Chair of the Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Board of Directors.
Bob Labes, who is Group Leader of the Public & Infrastructure Finance Practice Group, commented, “I am thrilled to welcome Ayana and Chrystie to our practice. They are experienced attorneys with tremendous capability. Their expertise and life experiences crosses multiple sectors and adds depth to the level of expertise provided to our diverse client base.”
Squire Patton Boggs was one of roughly 30 law firms and legal departments to partner with Diversity Lab when it launched its OnRamp Fellowship program last fall. The OnRamp Fellowship matches experienced lawyers returning to the workforce with firms and legal departments for one-year, paid Fellowships.