Without advisors, networks, or even fellow travelers on her journey from the Midwest to Wall Street's Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, this secondborn, encouraged in youth always to reach up, steered repeatedly into Uncharted Waters. For her, every transition was a matter of first impression. And her life — from the Midwest to Wall Street, motherhood and back, through glass ceilings and medical miracles — became a multiplicity of firsts.

In A Matter of First Impression, lawyers will have a glimpse of the intrigues of Megacases. Those on an alternate parenthood interlude will see that giving back can lead to new professional experiences more valuable than those cultivated in lock-step careers. And women will learn that, with sequential targets, it is possible to have it all.