She spent 22 years as an attorney in the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice, where she led the team that pursued for six years, including a nine-month trial, the case against the major cigarette manufacturers for violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Following the trial, she was forced into early retirement by the George W. Bush administration. She lives just outside Washington, DC, in McLean, Virginia, with her husband. She has three daughters, twins who are in college and one who is a recent graduate working on a political campaign.