Genevieve Patricia McGrady, Countess of Charleston, (born 24 December 2640) is a Terran spacer lawyer and politician who is the current Solicitor General of the Republic. She is a scion of the famed McGrady family and held a long career in the legal profession as a solicitor-advocate prior to her government service. She worked for the prominent Inner Colonies spacer law firm Finbarr and Finnegan Legal Services, LLP and rose to become partner and then head of the firm. She held several local government posts in the Inner Colonies and Inner Sphere provinces as a legal counsel to governors and consuls, before being appointed to government service as a liaison between the Principal Secretariat and the Ministry of Justice. She was appointed in 2691 to be Senior Counsel to the Chancellor. In March 2695, after a distinguished career providing valued legal advice to the central government, she was appointed Solicitor General of the Republic, responsible for arguing cases in which the Union government is a party in court.
She is among the most respected members of her family in public service, and has been seen as an important figure in the Terran and Galactic legal community for many years. She retains high trustworthiness ratings in the public, according to several polls and surveys, and her legal advice has been seen as crucial for government decision-making in matters of domestic and foreign policy. She is heir to her mother's dukedom and is legally allowed to use the title Countess of Charleston by courtesy.
Early life and education[]
Genevieve Patricia McGrady was born on Christmas Eve, 2640 in the McGrady family estate's domestic clinic to Shannon Hazel McGrady and Patrick David Drake. She was the second child of Shannon McGrady, after her son John Patrick (born 2634). She was privately tutored from age three to age eight at the family estate by esteemed professors of mathematics, social science, and history, under her mother's supervision. In her youth, she had a sibling rivalry with her younger brother William and the two often competed in municipal sporting events. After her mother departed to serve in the Inner Colonies Provincial Parliament in 2652, Genevieve attended the Wallerstein Catholic Academy. But after a couple years, she was sent to the St. Ives School, a prestigious vocational institute for the legal profession on the planet Trinity V in the outer edge of the Inner Colonies, from August 2654 to May 2657. She matriculated with high marks in her classes, graduating valedictorian.
She applied to prestigious law schools on Earth, and received admission to the Harvard Law School. She attended for her undergraduate studies from 2658 to 2661, earning a dual degree as a Master of Law and a Master of Business Administration. Starting in January 2662, she attended studies at Cambridge University in England for her graduate studies and earned both a Juris Doctor and Doctor of Juridical Science doctorates in December 2664. She focused her studies on corporate and business law, contract law, and the theory and history of jurisprudence.
Legal career[]
Genevieve was admitted to the bar in early 2665 and was certified as a solicitor. She entered into a career with the law firm Finbarr and Finnegan Legal Services, LLP and served as an assistant to several prominent advocates in the firm. Finbarr and Finnegan are one of the largest law firms in former Terran space, and often represent corporate clients in mergers and acquisitions, disputes with local governments and businesses, and in various suits and claims. In a surprise move, after less than two years as an assistant solicitor on various accounts, Genevieve was appointed to be an associate advocate for the McGrady Corporation account. The appointment was met with accusations of bribery and nepotism, but nothing in the firm's by-laws expressly forbade such appointments and the firm's leadership believed "it would drive her all the harder to give good advice and negotiate properly, since her family's livelihoods were on the line, not just her own pride and prestige." Her superiors in the firm were not disappointed, and she advocated out of the courtroom on many mergers and acquisitions, and on the sale and development of land, resources, and assets to the McGrady Corporation. She was appointed lead solicitor for the account in 2676, and was made parter at the law firm in 2678. She reapplied to the bar for dual certification as a solicitor-advocate and was allowed to appear in court as a barrister to advocate for her clients, the number of which grew to include other corporations and entities, as well as special individual clients deemed of great importance or interest.
She was voted by the board of partners to be Chairperson of firm in late 2684, a position she held until 2689. During this time period she served in appointed posts as legal counsel to various planetary governors in the Inner Colonies and the Inner Sphere sectors, and as chief counsel to the Consuls of both sectors. These periods of service were less than a full year, fitting within a loophole in the law that forbade lawyers who actively held ownership in a firm from serving more than year as a government lawyer. The law was intended such that lawyers would abdicate their corporate positions for prestigious government service, but many lawyers used this as a means to hold corporate positions and salaries while simultaneously consulting with governments and holding salaried government staff appointments.
Government career[]
In 2689, she was offered an appointment as a government liaison between the Principal Secretariat, which runs day-to-day government operations, and the Ministry of Justice, providing valued legal advice to the central government. She accepted and was appointed to the position in June 2689. She surprised many by vacating her corporate offices in June 2690 to take full-time the role. She was appointed in February 2691 to be Senior Counsel to the Chancellor, a position in the Chancellery as the chief legal advisor to the head of state and the central government.
McGrady served in the position of Senior Counsel until November 2695, acting as the leading advisor to the central government and acting as the liaison between it and the Ministry of Justice. She drafted numerous policy statements and reviewed all actions by the central government for their adherence with the law, cooperating with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of State Security. Her especially good relationship with the Ministry of Justice, her strident advocacy for legally-adherent policy, and her distinguished career in both legal and government service led to her appointment as the Solicitor General of the Republic in 2698.
McGrady serves currently in this role, as the chief advocate of the central government in the Supreme Courts and nominally represents the central government in lower-court cases where it is a party. Her Assistant Solicitors advocate in lower district courts where the central government is a party.
Personal life[]
Genevieve is the eldest daughter and second child of Shannon McGrady and her husband, Patrick David. Her mother is a long-serving legislator who is currently serving as the Prime Minister of the Republic, and who had a significant influence in the creation of the Central Galactic Union. Her father is the President and CEO of the McGrady Corporation. Her elder brother is corsair John Patrick McGrady. Her younger siblings include war hero and State Security general William, 1st Duke of Wallerstein, philanthropist Anne-Marie, clergywoman Cynthia Shannon, Cardinal McGrady, artist Fiona Fachtna McGrady, businessman and fashion icon Peadar Petyr McGrady, actress and filmmaker Hillary Alice McGrady, and famed doctor Rory David McGrady. All of her siblings have excelled in their respective areas of expertise and education.
Due to the scandal surrounding John Patrick's alleged gang activities and his trial in 2686 for piracy and criminal conspiracy, her elder brother was disinherited. Genevieve was then made heir to the baronetcy held by her mother. In 2694, her mother was raised to a dukedom as Duchess of Carolina; Genevieve, though not a peer in her own right, was entitled to use the courtesy title Countess of Charleston. She is heir to all of her mother's hereditary titles.