Ara conducts internal investigations for clients and advises clients in connection with compliance issues, including export issues and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) as well as data security and privacy issues. She also represents clients in a wide range of complex civil litigation, including employment law, contracts, torts, software licensing, and trademark violations.

Prior to joining Foley Hoag, Ara was an Assistant United States Attorney, where she successfully prosecuted federal criminal trials and conducted investigations of health care fraud, securities fraud, tax crimes, and education fraud. Ara also briefed and edited dozens of appellate briefs and argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Before becoming a federal prosecutor, Ara was an attorney with the Civil Division of the Department of Justice which she joined through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. While at DOJ, Ara briefed appeals involving various government agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), the Food & Drug Administration (“FDA”), the Department of Energy, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”), and the Central Intelligence Agency (“CIA”), and she was awarded the John Marshall Award for her work defending federal campaign finance legislation. Ara also briefed bankruptcy and constitutional law cases in the United States Supreme Court. Ara has briefed more than 30 civil and criminal appellate cases in U.S. Courts of Appeals across the country and has argued cases in nearly every federal circuit court of appeals.

Ara served as a law clerk for the Honorable Amalya L. Kearse of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.