Collegial and caring classmates, committed members of the faculty, and unparalleled professional contacts. This sense of supportive, connected community is the foundation of the Catholic Law experience. For James V. Catano ’11, the connections he made during his time at the Law School have positively affected him — both personally and professionally. Now, as a 2021 recipient of the Distinguished Recent Alumni Award, Catano reflected back on his Catholic Law education and the impact it has had on his career.

Catano, a native of the Boston, Massachusetts area, earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia. At the time, Catano thought that he would return to Boston after college, but following graduation, he instead moved to Arlington, Virginia. There, Catano attended The Catholic University of America — working on a master’s in International Affairs as an evening student while also working as a paralegal in a local law firm. “I spent two and a half years in that program and graduated in 2007. I was working at a law firm as well, as a paralegal, and going to classes in the evening. That was really where I first developed an interest in potentially pursuing law school.”

When it came time for Catano to choose a law school, Catholic Law seemed like the right fit. Beyond the obvious connection of having earned his master’s at the University, there were other factors Catano considered as well in his decision. “I definitely wanted to stay in D.C., and I had really enjoyed my time in my master’s program. I really enjoyed the professors — many of them were practitioners, so they brought that practical element to the coursework.” He continued, “When I was in that program, my time at Catholic was limited because my classes weren’t there. But, when I was on campus, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the community feel of it.” So with location and community in the front of his mind, Catano applied for and enrolled at Catholic Law for that next fall; he left his paralegal job and committed to law school full-time.

Originally, Catano planned to pursue a J.D./Ph.D. joint degree, focusing on international law or internal relations, but in his second year, he began taking courses in the Law School’s Securities Law Program which changed the trajectory of his career. “It was not really something I had a background in previously — other than a couple of classes in college on business or finance — but, I really enjoyed the courses, really enjoyed the professors, and that’s what sparked my interest in where I am today and working in the financial services law space.” Catano also took advantage of other opportunities to immerse himself in the securities law field — like being a member of the Securities Law Moot Court — and he acknowledged that Catholic Law offers unique opportunities that provide a great background and foundation, and provide practical perspective for starting a career in the space.

The Securities Law Program was exceedingly impactful on Catano’s time at Catholic Law as well as on his early career. “The Securities Law Program had the most meaningful impact on me and still does today. The courses, the professors collectively, my classmates that were taking those courses — all had a really meaningful impact on the direction of my career.” Catano reflected on his connection to Professor Lipton, “I was and still am very close with Professor Lipton. I took several of his classes and he certainly had a significant impact on my time at Catholic but also played a significant role in the start of my career. The lessons I learned from him from an academic perspective were critical, but also the lessons learned from him in terms of people skills were also important. I would say he had a very profound impact on the direction and shape of my legal career.” Catano also noted the lasting connections he made with his classmates and peers from Moot Court. “I think that it really says a lot about a program and the relationships it builds at Catholic, but also that are maintained when you leave Catholic.”

Catano credits the start of his career to those sustained relationships. His first job out of law school was at the D.C. office of Goodwin Procter, in their finance services practice. Just getting an interview there came through a recommendation from Professor Lipton, but there was an additional connection between the firm and Catholic Law. “When I went to interview there, the two attorneys that interviewed me had also graduated from Catholic Law and had been in the Securities Law Program.” Catano continued, “That same sense of community I had felt at Catholic was true there, and I spent three years at that firm and I really enjoyed working in the financial services space.” After those three years, Catano made the transition to Dechert LLP, once again being introduced to the job opportunity by a Catholic Law connection — a classmate who was really enjoying it there and thought he would too. Jeffrey Puretz ’81, who teaches in the Securities Law Program, was a Partner at Dechert at the time and a few other Catholic Law alumni were there as well. Catano once again felt the familiarity of the Catholic Law community. “That sense of community among Catholic Law graduates, I found it [at Dechert] as well and still find it there today. I’ve been there now for a little over seven years.”

In the 10 years since graduation from law school, Catano built a rewarding career for himself. “I find the area that I practice to be really interesting intellectually. It’s very challenging. It’s primarily dealing with large financial institutions or asset managers or corporations and advising them on very complex legal questions that may, at times, have meaningful business implications. And so, you’re oftentimes looking at a lot of these questions from multiple perspectives and I find that to be very challenging and very rewarding.” He added, “On a personal level, I really enjoy the people that I work with at the firm and the clients I am able to have relationships with. A lot of the clients that I work with are long-term clients of our firm, so you’re able to have, not just a relationship with them based on legal advice, but you’re actually able to really know these people personally, and I think that’s a really nice benefit. Those personal relationships are a really nice benefit to have.”

When asked if he had any advice for law school graduates today, he shared, “One thing that was really helpful to me in terms of starting a career and building a career, was all the opportunities that Catholic gave to intern or to provide research or writing services to a professor. I kept adding to those experiences, and those were critical to ultimately landing where I wanted to be.” He concluded, “So, I think it’s really just about staying committed to a goal and implementing the individual steps that help you achieve that. Even though you might feel like you aren’t advancing the ball much, collectively, those can really add up to be really meaningful.”