Rising Star: Blank Rome’s Elizabeth N. Jochum
Blank Rome partner Elizabeth N. Jochum was named a 2022 Government Contracts Rising Star by Law360, notably honoring her as one of the top five government contracts attorneys nationwide under the age of 40. Below is an excerpt of her profile, as published by Law360.
Blank Rome LLP partner Elizabeth Jochum's work to successfully defend Riva Solutions' position on an unusual $2 billion information technology contract, fending off protests in the process, has earned her a position among the government contracts attorneys under 40 honored as a Law360 Rising Star.
Why she's a government contracts attorney:
While many government contracts attorneys have told Law360 they fell into the practice unexpectedly after starting their legal career with a different focus in mind, Jochum knew she wanted to work in government contracts even before she entered law school.
Her interest was sparked while working as a journalist, a job she had wanted to do "my entire life," she said. Jochum's first role was to cover the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, but after a reorganization at her publication, she was shifted to the government contracts beat.
"I honestly barely knew what that was at that point in time, [at] 22 years old," Jochum said. "But I really came to be fascinated by the industry and noticed myself focusing more and more on the legal side of it, keeping up with the regulations, going to the congressional hearings, reading the bid protest decisions."
"So when I started to think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I knew it was going to be something in government contracts, and I let that interest on the legal side of it lead me to law school," she added.
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Her proudest moments as an attorney:
Alongside that important work for small businesses, some of Jochum's most impactful work comes from making relatively minor interventions that lead to a disproportionately large result for a client, such as drafting an email that helps convince a contracting officer to tweak a solicitation in a way that gives that company a chance at meaningfully competing for a contract, she said.
Helping clients successfully navigate those issues — with minimal cost — often leads to them increasingly reaching out earlier, not just when a legal problem arises, and being able to build those types of integrated business and legal relationships is an area of pride for Jochum.
"I think what I'm most proud of is that my clients trust me to advise them, both from a legal standpoint and a business standpoint," she said. "Because I have always focused on [the idea] that what I'm doing is not for me, it's for the client. And so a win for me is not a win for them unless we are aligned on what the goal is."
To read Elizabeth's full profile, please click here.