WALA volunteer Mary Ann McGrail (Principal, Law Office of M.A. McGrail) is the recipient of the 2020 G. Hamilton Loeb Award, Sole Practitioner Category.

Mary Ann’s legal practice specializes in intellectual property, international law, appellate litigation, higher education, non-profits, and national security law. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, Maryland, New York, and to the Supreme Court of the United States.

She serves on the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security (2008 – Present), and was formerly the D.C. Bar International Law Section Co-Chair. Her practice experience includes being a Maryland Foreclosure Prevention Project Attorney, a Department of Justice Attorney, and an Associate with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel. Prior to that, she clerked for the Honorable Richard S. Arnold, Eighth Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mary Ann is a Harvard University Alumna earning her B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in English and American Literature, and is a past Board Member of the D.C. Harvard Club. She earned her J.D./M.A. in Legal History, Law, and Legal History from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Before practicing law, Mary Ann was an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Translation Series for the Comparative Studies Program in Literature and the Arts, at Boston University.

The G. Hamilton Loeb Award for Pro Bono Excellence recognizes the lawyers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to provide exceptional pro bono legal service to the DC Metropolitan Creative Community.

“I would like you and whoever else should know to receive this feedback: I could never afford this level of assistance and support without WALA and while I am a small project for Mary Ann, this is HUGE in moving my work forward. One of the things that impressed me most was that Mary Ann was readily available and responsive and made me feel like a priority. I cannot tell you how much this is appreciated, and how I feel I am being set up for success! “ – Flo Low – Israel Institute.org