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Spotlight on Young Moore’s First Female Managing Partner

In celebration of Women’s History Month, we are shining the spotlight on Dawn M. Dillon! Dawn was recently elected Managing Partner of Young Moore and is the first woman to lead the firm. She is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and strategic planning for the firm. She will also continue her practice of law. Dawn has served on the firm’s Practice Management Committee and as Operations Shareholder since 2016.

To help you get to know Dawn, we asked her to share a few things about herself that you might not find on her bio:

What inspired you to become a lawyer?

• In high school, I worked for a lawyer. He also owned a greenhouse (small towns!!), so I started there in the summers. Later, he needed help in his office, so I was a runner through high school and college summers. Occasionally, I got to go to court with him and loved it. He won a motion to dismiss and it was like magic to me! He made an argument to the judge and all of the sudden – the case was over. I wanted to do that!

What do you enjoy most about practicing law?

• My favorite part are hearings, appellate arguments and depositions, but we don’t get to do those as often as I’d like. I also love meeting so many different employers, learning about what they do and collaborating with them to find solutions to their problems.

Who has been your greatest mentor and why?

• Two of my former teachers were my greatest mentors: my AP US History teacher and a history professor in college. Both were brilliant, strong women who helped me appreciate why it’s important to study where we’ve been in order to create a better path forward.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

• Raising two boys who seem like they are on their way to being self-sufficient humans!

What has been the best advice you have ever received?

• Not sure I can pick one thing but I’m sure it came from my law partner and mentor, David Duke!

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?

• It’s just not that serious. Enjoy the ride and don’t be so hard on yourself.

What advice would you offer to women just beginning a legal career?

• You are worthy and capable. Work hard, be yourself. You don’t have to pretend to be someone else in order to build a successful practice.

What is your favorite book?

• Oh! I have so many. I can’t pick just one; I devour historical fiction. I love the whole Outlander series (9 books and an entire series). It’s my guilty pleasure!

If you could share a meal and a conversation with anyone you choose, dead or alive, who would you pick?

• I’d love to have dinner with Eleanor Roosevelt. She came from such privilege and yet, always championed the underdog. After marrying and having six children, she transformed the role of first lady, withstanding much criticism and scorn for doing so.

Who would you choose to play you in a movie of your life and why?

• I’ve always wanted to be funny and as my children regularly remind me, I’m not! So, maybe someone like Kristen Wiig because she’d make me funnier!

What is something most people may not know about you?

• I played trombone in high school and I have absolutely no hand-eye coordination.

What is your favorite vacation destination?

• Anywhere. Everywhere. I LOVE to travel.