Grace Margaret Vogel Salerno

When I was growing up I always knew that I wanted to help people for a living. It was never a question in my mind. Before I knew I wanted to go to law school, I spent my summers working as a counselor at a summer camp During this time, I interacted with hundreds of children each week, many of whom came back every summer. I developed relationships with a few of the children who were in the foster care system or came from impoverished families. The experiences of those children ultimately became the source of my drive to attend law school to serve the community.

After deciding I wanted to go to law school, I focused my energy on gaining more experience in the legal system. During my junior year of college, I was an intern for Assemblywoman Donna A. Lupardo at the New York State Assembly where I assisted Assemblywoman Lupardo with research for a bill requiring public schools to test for lead in their water. While this experience was fascinating and rewarding, my internship also reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career involving litigation. I learned that passing a piece of legislation looks much different than the way a court enforces a particular law and the way a court enforces that law has a real impact on people every day. Further, I learned that effective and passionate attorneys are needed in the courtroom to advocate for those affected by the enforcement of those laws; I wanted to be a part of that.

While in law school, I was determined to end up in a prosecutor's office or doing criminal defense work but as a 2020 graduate, fate intervened. The July Bar Exam was cancelled and months went by before we found out that a remote exam would be held in October, for the very first time. I opted to wait until the February 2021 exam and in the meantime, I applied to Meggesto Crossett & Valerino on a whim. To my surprise, I have fallen in love with helping people navigate the Workers' Compensation system. Helping people get their lives back after the hardest times they have experienced has been more rewarding than I could have ever anticipated. I consider it an immense honor to represent New York's injured workers and get them the benefits they are entitled to.