Associate Attorney at Squire Patton Boggs
Denver, Colorado
Accounting major 2012
To excel on the balance beam in gymnastics requires flexibility and grace. The beam is a scant 4 inches wide, and if you’re not driven to conquer its exacting demands, your bone doctor would like for you to come down from there.
Falcon gymnast Aditi Kulkarni was flexible, graceful, and driven. She competed and lettered all four years and was team captain her senior year. Balance beam and floor exercises were her specialties. In addition, she majored in accounting with a minor in mathematics, was a four-time Scholastic All-American, and graduated summa cum laude.
Today, Kulkarni-Knight walks the beam of another kind, though one no less exacting. After graduating in the top 5 percent of her law school class, Kulkarni-Knight now is an associate attorney in the global law firm of Squire Patton Boggs. One of 1,500 attorneys distributed over 46 offices in 21 countries, she particularly enjoys the fast pace of Chapter 11 corporate bankruptcy cases.
“It’s rewarding to support the restructuring of large companies and to walk them through every step of such a long and complicated process,” says Kulkarni-Knight, who thrives on the pressure of a high-profile office in her hometown of Denver. “I love that our firm has international connections and some of my work has touched other continents.”
Her pro bono work includes legal assistance to nonprofit organizations “that are doing so much good in the world.”
SPU professors were instrumental in Kulkarni-Knight’s decision to apply to the University of Colorado Law School. “They were extremely supportive and got me connected to mentors in the legal profession,” she says. “I still keep in touch with them!”
— Clint Kelly
Kulkarni-Knight works as an associate attorney at the Denver office of Squire Patton Boggs, an international law firm with over 1,500 attorneys worldwide. There, she has opportunities to work in numerous different areas of civil litigation, but her favorite practice areas include corporate restructuring and insolvency, health care litigation, and mining regulatory compliance. She tries to stay involved in the community through both her work and otherwise.
How does your time at SPU connect to the work you’re doing today?
My business classes at SPU were crucial to my success in law school and my legal career. My familiarity with clients’ financial statements and my understanding of clients’ business goals stems from the SBGE’s core teachings and gives me an advantage in the legal profession.
Who made a difference in your SPU education?
Drs. Bill Kauppila, Ross Stewart, and Kim Sawers all made a difference in my SPU education. They are very dedicated to the accounting program and their students. They were also extremely supportive when I decided to apply to law school and got me connected to mentors in the legal profession.
What advice do you have for students about life after graduation?
Write down short-term and long-term goals for yourself (often!) and work hard to achieve them. Self-motivation is your most powerful tool in the professional world.
