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IAALS Advances Justice with Duane Morris LLP's Sheila Hollis

By Rebecca Love Kourlis
October 25, 2017
Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

IAALS Advances Justice with Duane Morris LLP's Sheila Hollis

By Rebecca Love Kourlis
October 25, 2017
Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

Read below

Sheila Slocum HollisFrom her 5’3” frame, Sheila Hollis has cast a long shadow in the law, as a trailblazer, innovator, and international leader. She is Colorado grown and educated, and now has deep roots in our nation’s capital, where she brokers with the best of them. ...

Sheila packs power and has played a key role in the formation and implementation of energy law and policy (follow her on Twitter @energylawgirl). She was a trial lawyer at the Federal Power Commission and served as lead counsel on the Pennzoil-United spinoff case before becoming the first director of the Office of Enforcement of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. She not only established that office, she also charted its policies and procedures, many of which remain in place today.

Currently, she is chair of the D.C. of Duane Morris LLP where she is the office's founding managing partner, as well as the founding practice group leader for the firm's Energy, Environment and Resources Practice Group. ...

At every meeting of our Board, Sheila showed up polished, elegant, and prepared. She does the homework and she asks the right questions. She is modest and private about her charitable work and is always on the lookout for opportunities for IAALS. We are so honored that she makes time for us, serving as an ambassador and publicist.

In between all of her travels, we caught up with Sheila for November’s Partner Profile.

Your mother was a strong and positive influence in your life. What lessons did she teach you that you find applicable today?

My father was deceased early in my life and my mother was my example of complete independence and of how you can make it without sacrificing your principles. She was a strong Irish woman who took excellent care of her family while maintaining her dignity. Yet she also had an irreverent sense of humor and a spiritual side. Her mélange of personal strengths taught me to be my own person. My moral compass comes from her, and it guides me through difficult and complicated circumstances.

What is your most marked characteristic?

I’d say it’s my restlessness and curiosity! The “old philosopher” in me wants to know, “how come?” Perhaps that developed from growing up as an only child and wanting to know more about more. I believe that curiosity has created an element of luck in my life. I’ve had a lot of wonderful life experiences that came from standing in front of a door and walking through it just to see what’s on the other side. ...

What is it about IAALS that inspires your involvement and philanthropic giving?

It is an honor to be involved in any way with IAALS. The dedicated leadership and staff, and volunteer advisors and contributors are gifted, and diverse, and dedicated. They can step outside the hub bub and day-to-day maelstrom of the practice of law to think and analyze how to create a better, fairer, and more responsive system of justice. Despite all the pressures of finance—and wars among factions on various issues—they rise above it and play the long game. And that is remarkable.

To read the full article, visit the IAALS website