How a Rutgers Law Event Led to a Career at King & Spalding for Alumnus

In fall 2024, the Rutgers Law School Mediation Clinic and the Center for Corporate Law and Governance (CCLG) welcomed Mark Kirsch of King & Spalding to Newark for a lunch and learn program on alternative dispute resolution. Joe Grushko ’25, then active in CCLG, came away impressed not only by Kirsch’s command of the subject but also by the way he spoke and carried himself. 

Grushko followed up. The two discovered they had parts of their backgrounds in common, and Kirsch encouraged him to stay in touch. Grushko did. Two years later, that connection helped lead him to King & Spalding, where he began as an associate this fall. 

“That was something that was taught to me before law school and emphasized during law school: forge connections, but also continue them,” Grushko says. “The hard part is making sure you stay in touch. But I made sure to do that.” 

Rutgers Law Dean Johanna Bond said Joe's story exemplifies the Rutgers Law mission. "We do more than educate students in the classroom," she said. "Students like Joe are empowered to achieve extraordinary things through mentorship, experiential learning, and professional networks. His journey reflects our strategic commitment to student success."

The connection with Kirsch was one part of a longer journey to the firm, which included a national moot court championship and a clerkship at the New Jersey Supreme Court. But Grushko’s path to law began outside the legal profession. He spent six years working in sports and advertising before law school. Around the pandemic, he began looking for work that would let him help people while still drawing on the strategic skills he had built in business. Law offered both and brought him to Rutgers. 

As a 1L, Grushko sought advice from his Contracts professor, Professor [Ron] Chen, whom he calls “one of the smartest people in the building.” Chen encouraged him to pursue an opportunity he might not otherwise have considered. In turn, Grushko spent his first summer interning for a judge. “It was an unbelievable experience learning from everyone in chambers,” Grushko says. He went on to intern for two more judges, including Justice Michael Noriega of the New Jersey Supreme Court. 

Grushko also found a place in competitive advocacy. As a member of the Rutgers team that won the national Thurgood Marshall Memorial Moot Court Competition, he experienced the satisfaction of achieving something as part of a group. “It was a great feeling to accomplish something that represented the appellate team and the law school, and not just necessarily for the personal gain of it,” he says. 

After graduation, Grushko joined Justice Noriega’s chambers as a law clerk on the state’s highest court. He remembers feeling the weight of the role at the beginning of the year. By the end, the arrival of the next class of clerks gave him a chance to see how much he had grown. “It was a moment for me to reflect on where I was a year ago,” he says. Work that had once felt daunting had become familiar. 

The clerkship also changed how he thought about imposter syndrome, which he calls “very real.” He came to realize that “although the feelings of self-doubt are real, they are not reflective of one’s actual abilities.” He credits Justice Noriega as a mentor who encouraged his clerks “to be the best forms of themselves” and to recognize that they could exceed their own expectations. 

One of the year’s milestones was personal, too. Grushko was sworn in as an attorney at the New Jersey Supreme Court, with his father in attendance. His father had come to the United States from Kyiv in his early twenties. Grushko is named after his paternal grandfather, who studied law but never had the opportunity to practice. “Most children of immigrants can agree: we stand on the shoulders of giants,” Grushko says. “As proud as I am of my roots and where I came from, I am trying to craft my own story and build upon what my father started.” 

During the clerkship, Grushko reconnected with Kirsch and expressed his interest in King & Spalding. 

Kirsch said, "We agreed to stay in touch, and I’m glad we did. I could tell quickly Joe has the intellect, work ethic, temperament and desire to do well in legal practice. I’m very pleased he’s joined King & Spalding. And beyond Joe, it’s certainly clear from the students I met, Rutgers Law is doing something right."

What stayed with Grushko most was the way Kirsch spoke about the firm’s people during the time they reconnected. Now settling into his new role, Grushko says the welcome has lived up to that reputation. “Every new person who’s walked through that door with me has been treated with respect and kindness and a willingness to engage,” he says. 

That support is what he looks for in a workplace. “Whether that was Rutgers, or the chambers of Justice Noriega, or now here, it’s about finding your people and finding a place where people want to pour back into you and help you reach new heights,” he says. 

“I’m so appreciative of the people who got me into this position,” he adds, “because it was far from an individual journey.”