Fifty years ago, 89 students arrived in Lakeville and ushered in a new era of women and girls at Hotchkiss. Throughout the 2024-25 academic year, Hotchkiss will reflect on their inspiring legacy, pay tribute to the achievements of students who followed in their footsteps, and gratefully acknowledge all members of the Hotchkiss community who boldly helped steer the School forward.

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By Erin Reid P’01,’05

Carla Reeves ’04 has built a distinguished career in employment law, earning a reputation as a trusted advisor, skilled litigator, and advocate. As a director at the law firm Goulston & Storrs, she combines legal expertise with a commitment to service, both to her clients and to underserved communities. Her leadership and contributions to the field of employment law have earned her recognition both locally and nationally.

Reeves’s journey began on the South Side of Chicago, IL, where she was encouraged to consider boarding schools through a scholarship program for high-performing students from inner-city schools. “The idea of stepping out of my comfort zone to try something more challenging intrigued me. I still remember my first visit to campus and the time and effort Pat Redd Johnson and others put into making me feel welcomed. It was hard leaving home, but as I reflect on my experience, I know I made the right decision.”

A core group of faculty members proved key to her experience at Hotchkiss, including Lufkin Prize winner Charles Frankenbach P’12,’16, Athena Fliakos ’95, Paul Oberto P’24,’25, Al Bertsch, and Nate Seidenberg. Reeves found community and some of her closest friends through one of her favorite extracurricular activities, the Black and Hispanic Student Alliance (BaHSA), an organization for which she served as co-president.

She made the decision to pursue law while attending Union College, where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree. At Union, she was introduced to her first attorney mentor and interned at a large law firm headquartered in Chicago. During the academic year, she worked as an intern in the City of Schenectady’s Office of Corporation Counsel while also gaining experience as a teaching assistant in the Political Science Department through a Future Professors Program. “These experiences, taken together, helped to solidify my interest in pursuing a career in law,” she said.

Reeves earned a J.D. from Boston College Law School on an accelerated track. While in law school, she served as a judicial intern to then-Chief Magistrate Judith Dein of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and as a legal intern for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor. She also supported trial teams as a law clerk in the Boston office of a mid-sized law firm, where she later practiced as a complex commercial and business litigation associate. Reeves then practiced as an employment litigation associate at another mid-sized law firm in Boston before joining the Boston office of Goulston & Storrs in June 2016.

Reeves’s work on any given day is a wide-ranging combination of advising employers on compliance with federal and state employment laws, litigating employment and other business disputes, conducting investigations, and delivering customized workplace trainings. Her experience also includes helping clients to mitigate the impact of government investigations and enforcement actions, including those involving agencies such as the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and state Attorneys General offices.

Though Reeves’s employment practice has always been dynamic, the current legal landscape has posed unprecedented challenges. In her work in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, she dedicates substantial time to reminding employers of what the law is and to helping them develop risk-informed strategies for navigating new enforcement priorities. She says, “This work is challenging and requires courage in this climate, but it is too important to abandon.” 

Reeves’s achievements in the area of employment law include her selection as a 2025 “Go To” Employment Lawyer by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly; her recognition by Chambers and Partners USA from 2020 through 2025; her recognition as an Employment Law Trailblazer by the National Law Journal in 2021; and her recent invitation to join the American Employment Law Council, an invitation-only organization of the nation’s top employer-side labor and employment attorneys in private practice and in-house. In addition, in June, Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys selected Reeves to receive its Ida B. Wells Award, which recognizes Black women attorneys who have made significant contributions to the legal profession and who exemplify the pioneering spirit and courage of Ida B. Wells.

She maintains an active pro bono practice, providing employment and other advice to nonprofit organizations dedicated to survivors’ rights, health equity, alleviation of poverty, support for individuals experiencing homelessness, and access to education and justice. Reeves also provides foundational employment law trainings to small women- and minority-owned businesses. She volunteers her time to these causes to provide legal resources to organizations that would not otherwise be able to afford them and to enable organizations to focus more of their time and resources on achieving their missions. In recognition of her pro bono work, Reeves has received awards from Lawyers for Civil Rights and the Volunteer Lawyers Project.

Reeves also devotes time to important causes outside the practice of law. In 2024, Reeves was appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to serve on the Commonwealth’s Judicial Nominating Commission, a non-partisan group that screens judicial candidates and makes recommendations to the governor for appointments. She serves on the Council of the Boston Bar Association and as a mentor for the Women’s Leadership Initiative of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts. She also serves on the executive board of The Boston Lawyers Group and on the boards of directors of YouthBuild Global and Lawyers for Civil Rights. 

“Hotchkiss offered me early opportunities for leadership, strengthened my advocacy skills, and helped me learn to build relationships across differences,” Reeves said. She draws on these lessons and skills every day and has leveraged them in her work in the legal and broader communities.