Pauline McTernan

Of Counsel, Otterbourg P.C.

Biography:

Pauline is an attorney in Otterbourg P.C.’s litigation group and is co-chair of the firm’s recruiting committee.  Within the context of her wide-ranging practice representing corporations, governmental agencies, financial institutions, and individuals in a diverse array of litigation, arbitration, and bankruptcy matters, Pauline has extensive experience in dealing with the back end of commercial finance transactions:  those unfortunate situations that end up in litigation, workout or bankruptcy.  Among other matters, Pauline is defending a secured lender in post-payoff lender liability litigation; she represented the secured lender in the bankruptcy of a metals company, including litigation against a borrower’s former owner and litigation with the trustee; and she represented the secured lender in litigation against an unsecured creditor arising out of the Article 9 sale of a borrower’s assets. 

Pauline was recently promoted to Of Counsel following her return from maternity leave after the birth of her son in April 2018.  While managing her new family responsibilities, Pauline is leading Otterbourg’s representations of several critical suits on behalf of lenders in the New York and New Jersey state, federal, and bankruptcy courts and spearheading Otterbourg’s efforts to recruit the firm’s next generation of bright and diverse attorneys. 

What advice would you offer to women just starting out in the industry?

Start off strong and prove yourself to be a reliable, hard-working, and high performing individual early on.  Obtaining a good reputation from the outset cannot be overstated;  it will make others (both inside and outside your organization) want to work with you and open up more opportunities to you in the long run.  Seek out mentors.  Do not be afraid to ask questions.  Treat everything as a learning experience and a chance to observe how your mentors, colleagues, and counterparts approach a situation.  Make a conscious effort to step out of your comfort zone.  Sometimes there is no better way to learn than by doing, and chances are that the task in question is not as unachievable or insurmountable as you had imagined.  If you fail (as everyone does from time to time), brush yourself off and take away lessons from the experience that you can apply to the next time.  Most importantly, believe in your worth and always conduct yourself with integrity – these will be your guiding lights throughout your career.

Studies have shown women are more reluctant to tout their accomplishments in the workplace. What advice would you give to help women be more comfortable with speaking up?

While there can be value in believing that you are the least qualified person in the room (e.g., it can make you work harder and take nothing for granted), you have to put those thoughts aside when promoting yourself and your accomplishments.  Remember, you did not get to where you are without hard work and sacrifice.  Ultimately, you are your strongest advocate, so do not sell yourself short.  You have nothing to lose by putting yourself and your accomplishments out there, and everything to gain.   

What do you know now that you wish you knew in the beginning of your career?

That you do not have to fit any predetermined mold to be successful.  You can stay true to yourself and get the job done equally as well as, if not better than, anyone else.  For instance, I never imagined that I would be a litigator because I had a preconceived notion (from movies and TV shows, no doubt) of what a “litigator” persona entailed.  As it turns out, there are a variety of qualities that make someone an effective litigator, qualities that I have been able to hone with experience and with guidance from mentors.  Had I not put aside my preconceived notions and taken the opportunities that presented themselves, I may never have discovered these personal attributes or my interest in litigation.

How do you balance work/personal time?

Perfectly imperfectly.  Obtaining the ideal balance of work, family, social, and personal time is difficult, if not altogether impossible (and even more so for women, who often shoulder more than their share of the household and family obligations even in this day and age).  Inevitably one will have to take precedence over the others from time to time.  Nevertheless, day to day, I have been able to strike a workable balance by setting aside time when I am completely devoted to work, family, friends, or myself, respectively, even if it sometimes means that I wake up a bit earlier or go to sleep a bit later.  This has come with its own benefits:  I have become a more efficient worker and a more present mother, wife, and daughter.  However, none of that would be possible without the support and understanding of my family and my colleagues – each of whom have been indispensable to my continuing professional success.