Up & Coming: Jennifer Bullard

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Jennifer Bullard knew for a long time that she was suited for a career in the law but she was much less certain where she would settle.

After spending four years on the East Coast (at Boston College, where she graduated cum laude), Bullard decided to give Los Angeles a try and enrolled at Loyola Law School. After two years, the Minnesota native wanted to return home and, after considerable finagling, managed to get admitted as a visiting student at the U of M for her final year.

That unusual trajectory put Bullard in a tough spot when it came time to networking – a problem compounded by her timing; as a 2010 law school graduate, Bullard entered the most brutal climate for legal work in generations. After landing an interim position on the commercial litigation team at Best Buy, Bullard passed the bar and worked for the electronic retailing giant as in-house counsel and contract attorney before landing at Bowman and Brooke in the spring of 2011.

With a practice focused on personal injury and product liability, Bullard, now 30, has spent the intervening years hop-scotching around the country, taking depositions and visiting accidents scenes on behalf of clients that include 3M, Polaris, and Honda.

According to Bowman and Brooke managing partner Bard Borkon, Bullard has had a hand in the resolution of over 125 claims in just four years at the firm – a tally that speaks to both her legal acumen and zeal for a heavy work load.

“I like to engage intellectually and I like solving problems and coming up with solutions. The law, and litigation especially, is a great way to do that,” says Bullard. She particularly relishes the immersion in detail involved with medical device cases, which she describes as “a great opportunity for a mid-level associates to really dig in.”