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100% Club Spotlight
As Meagher & Geer celebrates its 75th anniversary, the firm’s 31 women are especially proud to recall the tenure of its first woman attorney, Jeanne Coyne, who later became only the second woman justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court. Justice Coyne began her career at Meagher & Geer in 1957 when there were only a few women members of the Minnesota bar and purportedly after other firms only offered her a position as a secretary. But it wasn’t Justice Coyne’s gender that made her stand out as one of the most respected members of that court; rather, it was her keen legal intellect and impeccable professionalism. Indeed, when asked if women judges decide cases differently by virtue of being women, Justice Coyne responded, “a wise old man and a wise old woman reach the same conclusion.” Yet Meagher & Geer recognizes that — as a Louisiana judge wrote in a mid-1970s decision that ended women’s exclusion from jury service — women bring “a distinctive medley of views influenced by differences in biology, cultural impact and life experiences.” Consequently, the firm encourages its women attorneys to make their mark in each of its many and varied practice areas, including several in which few women practice. For example, attorney Kristine Kubes practices construction and surety law where the majority of that bar and its clients are men. For Kubes that means having to “break down old barriers of misperception and to rebuild understanding that overcomes differences in gender. Because I was raised in a construction family, I understand the concerns of the various players in a construction dispute. Meagher & Geer has been very supportive of my work and my role in the construction bar statewide and nationally.” Mary O'Brien, a partner who heads the firm's corporate-law transactional practice, notes that in her 17 years of practice, she has dealt with fewer than six women lawyers on transactional matters. “I appreciate that Meagher & Geer encourages its lawyers, men and women alike, to practice law in areas they enjoy. The firm offers great opportunities for lawyers to develop their own practice.” The firm also has quite a few women trial lawyers, three of whom — Barb Zurek, Cecilie Loidolt, and Jennifer Ampulski — have tried 14 jury trials in just the past year with overwhelming success. Recognizing that part-time work is not a bar to success at Meagher & Geer, the firm recently made appellate attorney, Kate McBride, a partner. “I feel so fortunate to work at a place that allows me both the flexibility that I need right now and the opportunity to have the practice I love.” The firm is also proud of Laura Hanson, a member of the firm's management committee who has a nationwide insurance-coverage practice and has appeared in many federal and state jurisdictions. According to Hanson, “Meagher & Geer has a long tradition of valuing excellence and hard work. The women attorneys here reflect those qualities, and enjoy a sense of camaraderie as well. Working with good people who enjoy their work as much as I do makes this a great place to practice law. Meagher & Geer congratulates all of its women attorneys and looks forward to the continuing leadership and professionalism they bring to the practice and the bar.
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