Alumni Spotlights: USC Gould veterans pursue rewarding careers thanks to military, law experience
USC Gould School of Law

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Thursday, November 11, 2021

By Natalie Pesqueira

The USC Gould School of Law celebrates and thanks all members of the law school community who have served in the military. This Veterans Day, USC Gould recognizes three distinguished alumni who are veterans and have gone on to careers in the military, finance and business.

Major Lauryn Carr (JD 2015)

Major Lauryn Carr currently serves as a litigation attorney in the United States Army's Litigation division. She works with the Department of Justice on cases including medical malpractice, Bivens claims (civil rights lawsuits against a federal agent), premises liability, and vehicle accidents arising under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Her jurisdiction spans the eastern half of the United States including Puerto Rico. Major Carr began her military service in 2004 when she attended the United States Military Academy at West Point at age 17.

She attended USC Gould through the Army’s funded Legal Education Program. “The baseline knowledge I developed and the skills I honed at Gould have been crucial to my success thus far,” says Major Carr. “I especially want to acknowledge how much the Hale Moot Court Honors Program developed me. When the Army selected me to represent the agency in criminal appeals, I was able to seamlessly delve into that work (thanks to the Hale Moot Court experience).”

Larry Chattoo (JD 2003)

After immigrating to the United States in the 1980s from Trinidad & Tobago, Larry Chattoo served in the United States Marine Corps from 1989-1994. He obtained legal status under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 — and joined the Marines because he felt a duty to pay it forward.

Today, Chattoo is a senior vice president of public policy and government relations attorney for Bank of America in Washington, D.C. The team he oversees serves as a policy clearinghouse that identifies, monitors, and analyzes current and emerging international, federal, and state issues.

“You often hear horror stories about how competitive and cutthroat law school can be. But my time at Gould was nothing like that,” says Chattoo. “The staff, professors and students all supported each other. I made lifelong friends during my time.”

Sean Galliher (LLM 2018)

Following in the footsteps of his military family, Sean Galliher joined the United States Navy to serve his country. After earning a JD degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1992, he earned an LLM in International Business Law from Boston University School of Law and later graduated from USC Gould’s LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution program. Galliher is currently associate general counsel for SKECHERS USA, Inc., where his duties include international business, insurance, employment law, risk management and ADR. He also serves as a lecturer in law at USC Gould.

“The Navy actually helped me prepare for my time at Gould,” says Galliher. “The discipline I learned in the Navy has been very helpful to me as I have progressed through my career and academically.”