Super Lawyers - Washington DC 2014

GARZA, HALF-POLISH, HALF-MEXICAN,

grew up in Mundelein, Ill., a small, northern suburb of Chicago surrounded by glacial lakes.

“As a kid, learning about history and
government was always very interesting to
me,” she says. “I noticed that a lot of the
people I admired were lawyers, and I told
my teachers I wanted to be a lawyer, and
they encouraged that. As I grew older, it
became clear to me that judges and lawyers
were important people in the community
who were empowered to help people. … I
think it’s really important for young people
of diverse ethnic backgrounds to go into
law, to have those people that you look up
to in the community who look like you.”
Garza’s first job as a lawyer was with
Jones Day in 1981, and one of her first
cases was helping to advise the first ATM
networks. The issue was whether rules
adopted by the bankcard exchanges
would restrict the freedom of individual
banks to participate in the ATM network.

It was the first time Garza was exposed to an antitrust matter. The interplay of an intricate set of rules that blended economic regulation with the best interest of the public fascinated her. She was hooked.

A few years later, Rick Rule, a former classmate of Garza’s who worked for the DOJ, recommended her for a position, even though there was a hiring freeze at the time. One problem: He didn’t exactly tell Garza he did it.

“I was a second-year associate sitting at
my desk,” says Garza, “and I got a call from J.
Paul McGrath, the assistant attorney general
himself. I was convinced it was one of my
associate friends playing a prank, so I was
completely relaxed. He told me that there’s
a hiring freeze, then he said, ‘The good news
is I’m looking for a special assistant and I’d
like to talk to you about that. Would you
like to come down?’ ‘Okay, sure,’ I said, still
thinking it was somebody playing a prank. So
we arranged that and I was about to go ask
my friends down the hall which one of them
did it when I got a call from Rick, and he said,
‘Deb, what’s wrong with you?’”
She walked into McGrath’s office
feeling relaxed and walked out with a job
as the special assistant to the assistant
attorney general.