As a small child in Grenada, food and drug law expert Vernessa Pollard lived without indoor plumbing, cared for by her older siblings after her parents came to America to work as domestics. Pollard said her parents immigrated to give their children “future options and possibilities.” The family reunited in America when she was 5, and ever since, the 36-year-old partner at Arnold & Porter in Washington has made the most of every opportunity.
She was inspired to become a lawyer as a teen by Vernon Jordan Jr., a close adviser to President Bill Clinton who is now a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Pollard was competing in a national speech tournament sponsored by the NAACP, where Jordan addressed the contestants, stressing that “it was his law degree that opened up all these possibilities,” she recalled.
