Susan S . Brewer
Member , Steptoe & Johnson PLLC
Photo by Steptoe & Johnson PLLC .
KRISTEN UPPERCUE
SUSAN BREWER , a member at Steptoe & Johnson PLLC , has always known she wanted to be in the courtroom . Brewer ’ s mother was a homemaker and her dad a trial attorney . Throughout high school and college summer breaks , she would fill in to help around her dad ’ s office when staff would be away , learning to be a receptionist , bookkeeper , secretary , runner and ultimately a paralegal .
“ I am pretty sure I did every job in the firm except for attorney ,” she says . “ I learned the importance of attention to detail , both in running an office and in handling cases .”
Brewer attended Duke University , where she double majored in English and political science and graduated in 1976 before attending Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University , where she graduated in 1980 . For two and a half years , she attended school at night as she was working as a paralegal
with a law firm in Washington , D . C ., which allowed her to pay for law school . She met her husband , Bill , in law school , and they were married during the fall semester of their third year . In her last year of law school , she switched to a full-time program so they could graduate together .
Two weeks after graduating , Brewer began working at Steptoe & Johnson , and nearly 42 years later , is still there .
“ I realize that an entire career at one place sounds unusual these days . Although I had many offers , I never considered leaving my firm ,” Brewer says . “ The lawyers and staff were smart , good people who all wanted me to succeed . The firm is cutting edge in policies and practice , both for clients and employees . Everyone has a voice because we always operate as a team .”
When Brewer started her career , she was one of very few female litigators in West Virginia .
“ Here and there I would encounter attorneys who didn ’ t know how to deal with a female attorney , much less a female litigator . I had some experiences I can look back on and laugh out loud — like the attorney who suggested I stuff a pillow up my dress so I ’ d look pregnant and win the case ,” she says . “ Most of the experiences involved attorneys who didn ’ t take me seriously or , even better , underestimated me . It was fun to prove them wrong and beat them , which I did pretty often .”
Brewer recalls Steptoe & Johnson having a huge litigation practice when she joined and one of the senior litigators taking a leave of absence in Brewer ’ s early years at the firm .
“ We divided up his caseload by literally sitting around a conference room table and dealing out the files like playing cards ,” she says . “ The young litigators were thrown into a high level and busy practice . I call 1980 through the mid-2000s the glory years of litigation because everything went to trial . One year , I tried 14 cases — it was crazy , but I loved every minute .”
Brewer ’ s partners at the firm encouraged her to get into firm leadership at a young age . She served on the firm ’ s executive committee for many years , and when Bob Steptoe stepped down as the firm ’ s managing partner , Brewer was elected to take his place in 2008 — the first female managing partner of a West Virginia law firm at a time when only 8 % of law firm managing partners nationwide were women . She served as managing partner and CEO for 12 years .
In 2001 , she was inducted as a fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers , an invitation-only organization limited to the top 1 % of attorneys in each U . S . state and each province in Canada . Brewer served as state chair for West Virginia for years and recently completed a four-year term as regent where she was in charge of the fellows in West Virginia , Virginia , North Carolina and South Carolina .
“ Being elected a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers is the highest honor any litigator can hope for , so I was
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