Cori Hill would make a great trial attorney someday. Even at nine months old, she already knows how to captivate an audience.
She’s plopped on the living room rug of her North Chattanooga home, focused on a toy her father pulled out of her box. All eyes are on her as she plays, her arms occasionally beating like wings in a joyful thrash, her vocal cords letting out random squeals of delight. She pauses and looks up at her mom, her cherub-like cheeks stretched out in a smile, her grey blue eyes sparkling. Having confirmed she’s still the center of attention, Cori returns to her fun.
Mom beams back from the couch and reaches down to straighten a wayward wisp of blonde hair. “I love her smile,” she says.
As mothers go, Ellie Hill is as new as they come. Cori is the first child she and her husband, Jason, a teacher and basketball coach at St. Jude School, conceived; the only other little feet pitter pattering at the Hill household are those of Chloe, the 13-year-old lab pacing the deck outside. Ellie and Jason spent several years preparing and planning for the arrival of their chubby bundle, though, so things are going well.
“I love seeing her laugh when I walk through the front door. I love taking care of her. I love playing with her,” she says.
As an attorney, Hill has more experience. A Fort Thomas, Ky., native, she earned an undergraduate marketing degree at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and then applied for law school as a way of prolonging college.
“Around the start of my senior year, I realized law school would be a good way to put off going into the real world,” Hill says, laughing. She earned her Juris Doctor at the University of Kentucky as well.
Hill met Jason, a Chattanooga resident, at a wedding while she was studying for the Kentucky bar exam. They dated long distance for a couple of years while she practiced law in The Blue Grass State, and then married in 2006. But Hill did not immediately become licensed to practice law in Tennessee; rather, after moving to the Scenic City, she took a job doing real estate transaction work at Title Guarantee and Trust.
Hill returned to the law in 2009 when she joined Patrick, Beard, Schulman & Jacoway, where she remains today. “When I moved to Tennessee, the real estate market was booming. But when things slowed down by 2008, I realized I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a litigator, so I started looking for a mid-sized firm. [Patrick Beard] was perfect for me,” she says.
Hill focuses her practice on general civil litigation. Although she represents corporations, banks, and other clients in a variety of matters, she focuses about half of her efforts on domestic issues such as divorce, child custody, and the modification of parental plans. This has given Hill a deeper appreciation for the work she does.
“I’ve always understood how important having a mother and a father is to a child. But now that I have a child of my own, I have a better understanding of what it would mean to see her only one day a week or on Christmas morning. Thinking about being without her for a single day, let alone more, is heart wrenching,” she says.
Hill also has stronger feelings about parents who don’t provide for their sons and daughters. “You see everything in a new light when you have a child of your own,” she says.
As an attorney, however, Hill tends to be busy. Long days preceded most trials, which means she sometimes leaves home before her daughter wakes up and returns after she’s asleep. Such days are difficult.
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m not spending enough time at the office; other times, I feel like I’m not spending enough time at home. I go through a constant internal struggle. To get through it, I simply go to sleep, wake up the next morning, and try to do better,” she says.
Hill and her husband always knew she’d return to work after Cori arrived, so they were prepared. During basketball season, Hill adjusts her schedule so she can be home when Jason is busy, and then Jason takes over when he’s done working with the team. In addition, friends and family abound in the area, and are more than happy to help. Plus, Hill has nothing but praise for Patrick Beard, and how the firm has worked with her to simplify her transition from career woman to working mother.
Hill and her husband also makes the most of their time with their daughter. “We spend as much time with her on the weekends as we can. And we just returned from our first vacation to the beach,” she says.
For all of their planning, Hill knows to expect surprises. “You don’t know what life is going to throw at you,” she says. While this is true, she says one thing is certain: Cori will be a Kentucky Wildcats fan.
“She has no choice. She even has a little Wildcats fan book. We’re going to bring her up right,” Hill says, laughing again. Jason, a Georgia Tech fan, smiles quietly at the other end of the couch.
Hill says there are challenges, but her daughter is doing well, so for the foreseeable future, she’ll continue to work. She loves Cori, but she also values her work. At the end of the day, though, her daughter means everything to her.
“She’s the most important thing in the world to me,” she says, looking down at her little bundle of energy, who’s still playing at her feet. “I’d do anything for her.”