After graduating from Boston College Law School, Gretchen started her legal career at Choate, Hall & Stewart, where she represented corporate clients in high-stakes civil litigation matters.  She counseled clients regarding a variety of legal issues involving minority shareholder disputes, reinsurance claims, breaches of contract, and wrongful termination.  In addition, she conducted workplace investigations to address allegations of harassment and discrimination, prepared fact and expert witnesses for depositions and trials, and litigated contract and employment matters.

Gretchen’s interest in public service led her to become an Assistant District Attorney with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for nearly 10 years.  As an Assistant District Attorney, Gretchen responded to crime scenes with local law enforcement officials, advised detectives on preparing search warrants, interviewed witnesses, and conducted grand jury investigations.  As part of her investigations into various crimes, she collaborated with detectives and crime scene investigators to evaluate the results of ballistic testing, tool mark analysis, latent print comparisons, trace evidence analysis, DNA testing, and electronic evidence from mobile phones, computers, and social media sites.  She appeared before juries on a wide variety of felony trials but spent the majority of her career indicting and trying violent crimes and homicides involving intricate fact patterns and complex legal and evidentiary issues.  While with the District Attorney’s Office, Gretchen was selected to serve as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. As a SAUSA she worked on joint investigations with federal and local law enforcement agencies to indict and prosecute firearms and narcotics cases. During her time with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office Gretchen was presented with the Ralph C. Martin II Award for Outstanding Superior Court Prosecutor.

Gretchen thereafter joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate securities fraud and other financial crimes.  At the SEC Gretchen investigated and litigated actions involving crypto-currency Ponzi schemes, insider trading, the sale of unregistered securities, fraudulent representations to investors, misappropriation of client funds by financial advisers, and accounting fraud.  She frequently worked in parallel with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office when defendants’ conduct violated both civil and criminal laws.    

As an Assistant District Attorney, Nicole responded to crime scenes, conducted complex grand jury investigations, participated in sexual assault intervention network interviews, litigated various pretrial motions, developed trial strategies, and tried bench and jury trials.

During her tenure as an Assistant District Attorney, Nicole was selected to help train fellow prosecutors in trial tactics and strategies based on her outstanding courtroom skills.  In addition, she participated in training members of law enforcement to testify in court through mock trial simulations.  In furtherance of her commitment to serving the public, she attended community safety meetings and participated in law enforcement intelligence task force meetings.