Editorial
Front Page - Friday, June 18, 2010
New mother has found her niche in practice area, firm
Erica Tuggle
Laura Ketcham holds her six-week-old son, Andrew, during his first visit to her office at Husch Blackwell Sanders LLP. Ketcham has been with the firm for five years, specializing in insolvency and commercial bankruptcy from the lender’s side.
- Erica Tuggle
For Andrew Ketcham’s first trip to a law office, he is wide-eyed and charming as all the ladies in the office rush to meet him. He is also dressed in a Onesie with a sailboat on the front. His mother, attorney Laura Ketcham, holds him in her arms like a professional, although she was only inducted into the world of motherhood six weeks ago with Andrew’s birth.
As if being an attorney wasn’t a full time job already, she is tackling the rewarding and challenging task of motherhood and calling it her own.
“It’s been great,” she says of motherhood so far. “People tell you how much work it takes, and it does, but it’s fun work.”
Ketcham, on maternity leave from Husch Blackwell Sanders, says she will stay home 12 weeks with her son before returning to her work in insolvency and commercial bankruptcy full-time.
Ketcham grew up in Athens, Tenn., with the desire to be an elementary school teacher. She says she always loved to read and write, and her mother encouraged her to pursue law. There were no lawyers in Ketcham’s family up until that point, but she went down the path without a hitch as she attended Vanderbilt for her undergraduate work (where she graduated magna cum laude) and stayed on for law school. She says it has been a good road that has allowed her to use things she likes to do on a daily basis.
After law school, Ketcham moved back to Chattanooga to be near her family. It was a good fit for her husband and her because of the ample supply of outdoors activities and mountain biking that they enjoy. Ketcham says she also likes to play tennis at least a couple of times a week, along with running and spending time with her Chattanooga friends and family.
Although Ketcham was able to fall into her niche quite easily in law, she says there are important things that an attorney needs to get the job done.
“I think critical thinking is important, and you definitely have to enjoy to read and write no matter what area of law you go into,” she says. “Being able to see the big picture for clients, not to focus in on the details, even though those are important, is also good.”
She says she works with lenders to see if the troubled business they are supporting can turn around, so that amounts lent to the companies can be recovered. A big chunk of her work is spent trying to find a solution that works for both parties. This involves workouts outside of bankruptcy court, bankruptcy cases, asset sales of troubled companies and some litigation in the bankruptcy context, she says.
In addition to her insolvency practice, she also handles a broad range of corporate matters such as law and business certificate, law and business society, legal aid society, moot court and scholastic excellence award in federal tax for publicly and privately held companies.
Listening to the issues of all of the involved parties and understanding is also an integral part of the work, she says. She spends lots of time on the telephone talking to clients and opposing attorneys, but probably only 20 percent of her time is spent in the courtroom.
Ketcham says the majority of the time is the out of court work and preparation time that makes it easier on everyone. In essence, by working things out before litigation is even started, she puts out the fires before you smell the smoke.
With five years of pract-icing this type of law with
Husch Blackwell Sanders, Ketcham says she thinks she has found the right practice area and firm for her.
“I think I will just continue to represent creditors in this context, and right now the economy is still pretty bad, but I think this is an area even when the economy picks back up there will still be plenty to do,” she says.
The economy’s challenge on borrowers and creditors is something, Ketcham says, she faces in her work as well.
“I think in this economy
it has been challenging because
a lot of borrowers have had trouble finding refinancing and lots of businesses simply can’t make it, so that is definitely a challenge to try and find how things are going to end up given that,” she says.
She says she especially enjoys her area of practice on days when she is able to turn a business around and help them make it either through a sale or refinancing. She says she found her preferred area in law through taking a variety of classes, and utilizing her summers to try out those areas of interest. She spent two summers with Husch doing projects in creditors rights and insolvency that helped her to be sure it was the area she wanted. After graduation, she returned to Husch to work as a member of their team.
Ketcham’s advice to those interested in law but unsure of an area is to take a variety of classes and get the good summer experiences so that it will be easy to find the niche that best fits a person’s personality, interest and skill set.
“I enjoy every day and love the variety of the work I have gotten to do here, and that’s why I wouldn’t go anywhere else,” she says.
Her coworkers at Husch and the Chattanooga Bar have been very accepting of her, and she says she doesn’t feel she has been treated any differently for being a woman in a male majority of attorneys.
“I guess women are still definitely the minority in the legal profession but I don’t feel we are treated any differently. Which I appreciate,” she adds.
Ketcham says she knows now there will be challenges to find the right balance between motherhood and her work life, but says she doesn’t think anyone will treat her any differently for being Andrew’s mother.
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