• Corporate comfort

  The past few years have seen Stephen Graham take a different journey in his professional life.
  
  

• Stephen Graham had a comfortable life working at a Seattle law firm for almost 25 years.
  
  Then another firm came calling. They didn’t just want Graham to come work for them. No they wanted the 1973 Iowa State political science graduate to open a branch office focusing on corporate practice in Seattle.
  
  So Graham traded his comfortable life for one completely different.
  
  "You never know where things will take you," Graham said. "But the important thing is to do what you like to do."
  
  And Graham clearly likes what he’s doing now. After starting Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP’s Seattle office in 2000, in 2003 he took over as head of the corporate department of the entire firm. Now he oversees 300 lawyers on three continents while maintaining offices in both Seattle and San Francisco.
  
  Graham says he logs 200,000 miles a year in the air. Airports and hotels are as much of an office as his Seattle office is.
  
  "I basically live on the road," Graham says. "I’m a mentor to 300 attorneys while trying to maintain a practice of my own on the side. I’m never standing still."
  
  One of the trips Graham took this fall was back to his hometown of Ames where he received Iowa State’s Department of Political Science’s Outstanding Alumni Award at Homecoming.
  
  Under his direction and leadership, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe has quickly become recognized as one of the Seattle’s premier law offices.
  
  Despite leaving a comfortable life behind, Graham says his new position is "not really a job. I don’t see it as work."
  
  Graham focuses his practice in the areas of private and public mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placements, and general corporate matters including advising boards of directors, audit, compensation and nominating/corporate governance committees, preparation and filing of periodic SEC reports and other securities law compliance, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
  
  His diverse practice is focused on the representation of emerging and established high growth companies, as well as major investment banking and venture capital firms.
  
  "You have the opportunity t o work with the decision-makers of companies and provide meaningful input into how those companies are managed," he said. "Working with talented and interesting people and playing a significant role in the success of their companies is great."
  
  Now Graham finds himself dealing with, and learning from, colleagues from all over the world.
  
  "We share diverse points of view and help each other grow as lawyers and people," he said. "I am always telling myself how lucky and fortunate I am. It is not an understatement to say I owe much to my experience at Iowa State."
  
  These days Graham gets to discuss the law with a woman from Russia who brings a completely different viewpoint to a subject.
  
  "This is a much more exciting position than I had with my previous firm," he said. "I never imagined that I would hold such a position, but I’ve always tried to do the best job possible, work as hard as I can and see where that takes me."
  
  Right now it’s taken Stephen Graham away from his previous comfortable life and onto a rather wild ride.

Ames, Iowa 50011, (515) 294-4111. Published by: University Relations, online@iastate.edu. Copyright © 1995-2004, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. All rights reserved.

Non-Discrimination Statement and Information Disclosures

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Ames, Iowa 50011-1302

General Information: (515) 294-7740

Academic Advising: (515) 294-4831

Email: las@iastate.edu

Michael Whiteford - Dean

Bret Larwick - Director of Technology

Dave Gieseke - Director of Communications