Kaye Courington is a founding member of Courington, Kiefer, Sommers, Marullo and Matherne, L.L.C. in New Orleans. Kaye co-founded the firm in 1995 and has had some version of her own firm ever since.  The firm is a member of the National Association of Woman and Minority Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF), which accepts diverse AV-rated firms only.  The firm was recently certified as the largest woman-owned law firm in Louisiana. The firm also has an active “non-profit of the month” program in which clients and employees nominate a non-profit and the firm makes a donation to that non-profit.

What made you decide to go to law school?

I’m sure I was influenced by the fact that both my father and my older sister practiced law. Predominantly though I was the classic liberal arts major who ended up in law school somewhat unexpectedly. I’d worked in higher education and got a masters in that field and one of those classes required that we read legal opinions and I, to my surprise, found them really interesting.

Do you think there are special challenges for women in law?

There certainly were many when I started out in 1987. I began in the field of admiralty law which was very male dominated, and it was clear that some of the men on my team didn’t take me very seriously or want me there. I would like to note however that I recognize that, as rare as a woman in an admiralty law department was at that time, a person of color of either gender at any large law firm in New Orleans was even more rare and I believe that people of color who are attorneys have faced many more challenges that I ever did.

Have things improved for women in law in your opinion?

Yes, I think they have. I think it is way less likely now for a female attorney to be asked if she’s the court reporter when she attends a deposition. There are many more female attorneys now.

What advice would you give to a young woman attorney starting out?

I’d tell her to not take herself out of the running for  a full career. Occasionally I hear young female lawyers say that they, for instance, just want a 9-5 job and are not interested in partnership or anything like that. I’d advise them to not only hone their legal skills but also as a young attorney to try to get interaction with clients. Building solid long relationships with clients to me is what makes the practice of law satisfying. Many women can be particularly good at relationship building and that superpower can really influence your legal career.

Why do you think some of the young women attorneys want to take themselves off of a partnership track?

I think they are concerned about work-life balance, especially if they plan to have families. I think parental leave for both fathers and mothers will be a game changer. For too long, it was assumed that only the new mom would be the one staying  home for a while with a new baby. That sets the pattern of the mother being almost the sole caregiver during the first weeks of the new baby’s life with the dad arriving home from the office and really not knowing the baby’s schedule, quirks, preferences, habits, etc. From there we go right to schools and day care centers only communicating with the moms. That phenomenon continues with moms often single-handedly taking on the whole mental load of scheduling doctors’ appointments, babysitters, etc. as well as often doing the bulk of household chores. I think it’s more likely that dads will become true partners in child rearing and home chores if they are given and take parental leave when a new baby comes home.

You mentioned your older sister was an attorney also. Do you know if she faced similar challenges?

Yes, my sister faced challenges too. In fact, in 1976 when she graduated from law school, she was initially told that she should become a court reporter with her law degree (and she was on the law review in law school even!)  She did not take that advice. I’m not sure people realize how relatively recently things have changed for women. My mother as a married woman was not allowed to have a credit card in her own name. As recently as 1980 a husband in Louisiana was legally “the head and master” of a household with unilateral control over property owned jointly with his wife or even over her personal inheritance.

How did you feel upon learning that your firm was certified as the largest woman-owned firm in Louisiana?

I felt proud! I work with a really wonderful group of people at our firm and I’m proud of what it has become.  Since “you can’t be what you don’t see” I think it is important that younger women and girls see that firms like ours exist.