Jacki Granet was born and raised in beautiful Santa Barbara, California. After what she describes as a “very stereotypical” and “really nice” childhood including frequent visits to the beach, youth soccer, football games on Friday night, a stint as captain of the high school basketball team (“We were terrible,” she says), she decided to attend college at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. “Most people who I meet constantly ask, ‘You’re from Santa Barbara, why did you ever leave?’” she says. “I just loved the Midwest, the big school. My dad’s college roommate went to Wisconsin Law School, and he always raved about it. It was the first school I got into. I applied and got in a week. The application was just a front and back piece of paper. I remember getting the acceptance and saying, ‘Like I would ever go to Wisconsin.’ But we went to visit in April, and I just loved it. It was beautiful. And it snowed and I still liked it.”
After graduation, when most of her friends were moving to either Chicago or New York City for their professional careers, she decided to travel abroad. “I wasn’t ready to figure out the next step,” she says. She went to London under the work abroad program BUNAC and lived in Queen’s Park (in a “really run down gross flat”), worked temp jobs, and traveled around Europe. She loved London, and hopes to return one day (which makes her a great candidate for our future London office). “I’ve always said it’s the one place I could see myself living forever,” she says. “I like to travel a lot. It’s so easy to get on the plane from London and be in Spain for the weekend or other places in England. I like the history; I like the architecture. I felt really at home there.”
She attended New York Law, an easy decision since both her parents were born here and many of her closest friends live in the City. During law school, she clerked at Daryanani Law Group and was hired, full-time, after graduation. "Jacki is one of the most thoughtful and sincere people I know,” Partner Manuel Otero says. “She also happens to be the reigning Queen of the D&B Oscar Pool, although this year she has stiff competition in the form of, co-worker, Jen Mecum.”
“I like the clients,” Jacki says. “I like reading about what they do. Researching and seeing how they fit into the different visas categories. I like the atmosphere, the vibe of this firm. I worked at a big corporate firm before law school and I knew when I left for school I was not coming back to corporate. It just wasn’t for me.”
*Questions taken from and/or inspired by the Proust/Inside the Actors Studio/Bernard Pivot/AnOther Magazine questionnaires.
What is your favorite word?
See favorite curse word.
What is your least favorite word?
Should.
What is your favorite curse word?
Motherfucker.
What sound or noise do you love?
The sound of Sienna (my niece) giggling.
What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of someone clipping their nails.
What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?
Screenwriter.
What is your idea of happiness?
Hanging out with my family.
What is your idea of misery?
People eating on a crowded subway.
If not yourself, who would you be?
Tina Fey.
Where would you like to live?
London.
What would your last meal be?
In-N-Out burger.
What do you hate the most?
Birds.
What natural talent would you like to be gifted with?
The ability to sing.
How do you wish to die?
On the couch in the middle of an Arrested Development marathon.
What are you thinking of right now?
Getting a glass of wine (it’s Friday!).
What makes you laugh?
Listening to my dad tell a story that he thinks is really funny.
What makes you cry?
Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.
What do you consider to be the greatest invention?
Television.
Where do you feel most at home?
At my parents’ house in Santa Barbara, CA.
What do you most like about the age we live in?
Technology advancements like FaceTime that keep me in touch with my family.
What is the biggest risk youʼve ever taken?
Moving to London by myself.
What is your earliest childhood memory?
My house burning down in one of those infamous California fires when I was five.
If you could wish for one change in the world what would it be?
For everyone in the world to have clean drinking water.