Breaking the Ice: HCBA president emphasizes belonging, community

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As the new president of the Hennepin County Bar Association, m boulette wants members feel an even greater sense that the organization is their “professional home.”

That’s what boulette, then a Minnesota newcomer, found upon attending their first Hennepin County Bar Association (HCBA) meeting, at the invitation of law school classmate Nicole Kettwick, who preceded them as president.

“We really do want all of Hennepin County’s lawyers to feel welcome and seen here,” boulette said. “Where they can show up as their whole selves, even though what’s bringing them there is just a part of it, just the lawyer part.”

boulette is a partner at Taft Stettinius & Hollister and chairs the firm’s national Domestic Relations practice. boulette also focuses on improving inclusion for LGBTQ+ families in family a law, a practice area that is “as endlessly fascinating as people are.”

Name: m boulette

Title: Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister; president, Hennepin County Bar Association

Education: A.B., philosophy and government, legal studies, Bowdoin College; J.D., University of St Thomas School of Law

Q: Best way to start a conversation with you?

A: To know what people are reading. I like books. I’m a nerd. I married a nerd. We’re raising three little nerds. I’m interested in what people are learning. It tells me a lot about them. Usually they’re going it because they care about it.

Q: Why law school?

A: Philosophy majors are not known for having employment prospects, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I wasn’t quite brave enough to tackle the Ph.D. that I really wanted to do.

I remember my father told me, “I don’t know many unemployed lawyers,” which was ironic, because it was before the financial crash. So, it was kind of a lack of imagination that brought me to law school.

Q: What are you reading?

A: “Work Won’t Love You Back,” by Sarah Jaffe. Her core premise is that to reap more rewards for the owners of capital, the people at the top the pyramid, things like reasonable, fair compensation and respect for different kinds of work have been replaced by almost a hustle culture, “love what you do” mantra. We tell lawyers, they have to feel like this is their passion. That’s not everybody’s experience, and it doesn’t have to be for them to be good, caring professionals who show up for their clients or their work.

Q: Pet peeve?

A: Folks who don’t hold the door or elevators.

Q: Best part of your work?

A: Learning about people’s lives. You see the vast diversity even under things that look very similar. You see all of the ways in which people are different.

Q: Most challenging?

A: Sitting with people through a lot of trauma and suffering. What might be even harder is knowing that they’re looking to you to fix it and sometimes you can’t.

Q: Favorite activity away from work?

A: I have an 11-year-old, a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old, and they keep us pretty busy with their favorite activities.

Q: Where would you take someone visiting your hometown?

A: I went to high school in Monmouth, Maine. Someone built a Victorian-esque theater that puts on Shakespeare plays. That’s got to be the place to take someone, to see a show at the theater.

Q: Legal figure you admire?

A: Bryan Stevenson. There’s a line in Stevenson’s book, that people are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done. There’s an importance in that sentiment when we’re working with folks who are going through a low point in their life.

Q: Misconception about your work?

A: That we’re just trying to make a buck and drum up conflict to that end. That’s not what I’ve seen in the family law bar. These folks are dedicated to helping families through a difficult process. Not one of us chose it for the money, not that I’ve met.

Q: Favorite book, movie or TV show about lawyers?

A: “Intolerable Cruelty.” George Clooney is a divorce lawyer, Catherine Zeta-Jones a client and later love interest who tries breaking his patented prenup. It’s every divorce lawyer stereotype, and it’s hilarious.