Originally from Jacksonville, Alabama, University of Montevallo alum Julia Maloney now resides in Arlington, Virginia, and works as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Anti-Trust Division.
Maloney graduated from UM in 2013 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in pre-law.
In the summer of 2012, she participated in the University’s The Washington Center internship program. The program gives its participants the opportunity to spend the summer in the District of Columbia working for a nonprofit or government entity. It included housing, a lecture series and classes on professional development.
“It kind of opened up my mind to all the opportunities that are available if you don’t restrict yourself to the state or the town in which you live in,” Maloney said.
The internship was not the only thing that Maloney participated in during her time at UM. During her first two years, she was involved in the SGA. In her sophomore year, she was the student coordinator for Higher Education Day.
Maloney said most of what she did at Montevallo was oriented around music. She was a part of the band, the French horn ensemble and the brass quintet. She also played in Purple Side’s orchestra for their 2013 College Night show.
She was heavily involved in Montevallo’s chapter of the music organization Sigma Alpha Iota.
“It’s now a chapter, but my senior year at Montevallo we were a colony.”
She was president of SAI and was responsible for putting together all the paperwork for the group to become a chapter. It was not approved as a chapter, however, until the summer after Maloney’s graduation.
After graduation, she took the LSAT at the University of Virginia for law school. She started in 2015 and graduated in 2018.
Right after law school she applied for the Department of Justice Honors Program. She got a job with the Department of Justice resulting in her moving to Arlington.
In 2021, Maloney received the Assistant Attorney General Award. It was given to her case team that was investigating the issue of price fixing in the generic pharmaceuticals industry.
“Basically, what was happening,” she said, “was these companies that were engaged in the making and selling of generic drugs were getting together and agreeing amongst themselves that they would charge prices higher than they needed to, and higher than they would if they weren’t talking to each other.”
Companies were then able to charge their customers more because they knew that they would not be undercut by their competitors.
Agreements like this are one of Maloney’s main focuses through her job with the AntiTrust Division.
Maloney encourages students with similar career goals as her to take a break between graduating and going to graduate school.
“I took a couple of years off after Montevallo before going to law school, and I think that’s something pretty important for folks who are interested in going into law.”
She explained that this time between attending UM and attending law school also gave her more time to study for the LSAT.
“You shouldn’t feel limited because you’re from a small town in Alabama,” she said. “A 3.9 from Montevallo looks just as good as a 3.9 from Yale or Princeton or wherever. Don’t restrict your thinking. Anything you’re interested in you can do if you put your mind to it and put in the work.”
