In the 1980s she was a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm Wilmer Cutler & Pickering, specializing in regulatory and legislative matters. She has worked extensively in the field of administrative law in her personal law practice and in other professional activities. In 1988, she was elected Chair of the Section on Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association; she has held various other offices in the ABA, including serving two terms as a Washington delegate to the House of Delegates. She served as a Public Member and Vice-Chairman of the Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law Center. In 1990 she was elected President of the Women's Legal Defense Fund. She joined the Clinton administration in 1993. She worked at the Podesta Group as Senior Advisor.