Erica L. Tarpey

At the intersection of business and the law, Erica leads by example.

Erica Tarpey is a business attorney at Ireland Stapleton Pryor & Pascoe, PC and she also serves as Ireland Stapleton’s Managing Director, the first woman to hold this position. She is a skilled business attorney with experience in a wide variety of matters including corporate governance, business formation, SEC compliance, and corporate finance.

Prior to joining Ireland Stapleton, Erica was the Chief Corporate Counsel for Citadel, a global financial institution based in Chicago. In that role, Erica oversaw the corporate compliance aspects of more than 100 entities, drafted Securities and Exchange Commission filings, prepared corporate documents and loan agreements, and was the lead attorney responsible for the company’s audited financial statements. Erica has also handled various employment matters, including non-competition and non-solicitation agreements, training, and investigations.

Leadership

At the intersection of business and the law, Erica works to be a leader that is focused on improving diversity and inclusiveness in the profession and helping to ensure Ireland Stapleton maintains a collaborative, diverse, and inclusive environment for all to thrive. She actively participates in allyship programs for female managing partners, and through the Firm’s law firm network, SCG Legal, Erica has found opportunities to elevate the conversation about women in the law through workshops and on panel discussions. Through this work, she has helped cultivate and put into practice ideas to help lawyers, regardless of gender, practice law in a healthy and balanced environment. She is a catalyst for evolvability; she keeps an eye open for opportunities for improvement and leans in to help make sure those opportunities can be realized.

Erica has a profound appreciation for education and community. She has personally established two funds at her alma mater, Grinnell College, that allow students opportunities to explore the world.

The first bequest was the Erica Tarpey ‘93 Fund for Global Grinnell. This gift specifically funds incidentals, items not covered by financial aid, such as visa application fees, inoculations, and small side trips. “My feeling is that once you travel if you are limited to the classroom or dorm and can’t afford to get on a train or a bus to see the mountains, beaches or a local restaurant, you are missing out on a fair amount of the experience,” she said.

The second bequest is to Grinnell College’s Institute for Global Engagement. The Institute works to advance global learning goals by facilitating collaboration across academic departments, centers, and programs to promote international learning and research. The Institute includes initiatives related to short-term and faculty-led programs abroad, off-campus study, language learning, co-curricular engagement, and strategic partnerships.

Erica also helped establish a class scholarship at Colorado University Law School. The class of 1996 alumni leadership raised funds to help support students furthering their educations by attending law school.