December
17, 2004
Alumnae
Legal Partners Connect at Downtown Springfield Firm
Photo
by: Todd M. LeMieux
(left to
right) Mary Jo Kennedy ’81, Kathy Bernardo ’87,
and Melinda Phelps ’78 |
Is it surprising that almost
half of the seven women partners at the 43-lawyer Springfield
law firm Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas are Mount Holyoke graduates?
Not really, say the three—Melinda Phelps ’78, Mary
Jo Kennedy ’81, and Kathy Bernardo ’87. While the
women did not know each other at Mount Holyoke, they credit the
College with steering them not only into legal careers but also
to one of the largest and most prestigious law firms in western
Massachusetts.
The Mount Holyoke partners agree that the College prepared them well for the
intellectual rigor of the law firm. Phelps said, “The intellectual curiosity
that was allowed to flourish in us at Mount Holyoke goes on here too. At Mount
Holyoke we were challenged to excel. We would review drafts of papers three or
four times. We were going for perfection. It’s the same here. The firm
encourages excellence.”
The women work in all areas of the firm, including litigation, real estate, health
care law, and trust and estates. “One day is never the same as the next,” said
Bernardo, who works on corporate and real estate matters, including Mount Holyoke’s
lease of The Orchards golf course to Arnold Palmer Golf Management. “You
can be negotiating a cell tower lease, probating a will, and then going to court.
It’s stimulating and challenging,” she said.
Mount Holyoke also taught the women how to work cooperatively with their colleagues. “The
professors and students were willing to engage in discussions, to help you answer
questions. Here, you can always find someone to talk to, to help you think through
a problem,” said Bernardo. She laughed, recalling an instance when Phelps
telephoned her with a thorny probate question just as she was leaving for vacation. “I
had my coat on, but I answered your question, didn’t I?”
“Mount Holyoke had a great tradition of teaching how to problem solve,” said
Phelps. “It has carried over into all our areas of practice. You try to
think outside the box, build a constituency. And to do it with respect.” The
women learned at school to be gracious even in disagreement. “You can have
an intellectual go-round without being disrespectful,” said Phelps. “At
Mount Holyoke we were taught to acknowledge diversity and differences.”
Bernardo values the individual voice she developed at Mount Holyoke. “There
were wonderful professors who allowed you to open up and speak out. They fostered
that.” When she attended classes at UMass and Amherst, she was struck by
how infrequently female students participated in class. “They’d shake
their heads but they would stay silent. It was so odd. I kept wondering why they
weren’t saying anything.”
Perhaps the strongest parallel between Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas and Mount
Holyoke is the shared commitment to community service. “All of us are encouraged
to sit on boards and otherwise participate in community activities and there’s
no limit to the opportunities out there,” said Phelps. At Mount Holyoke,
the women participated in a variety of College and community organizations. Kennedy,
who works in employment litigation and medical malpractice defense, has just
finished a stint as president of the Hampden County Bar Association and serves
on the board of the YMCA in Northampton. She recalled, “There was no way
to run away from getting involved at the College. You were always fighting for
some issue or another. It was part of my academic life there.”
Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas is also a strong supporter of higher education.
Phelps is on the board of the Springfield Technical Community College Foundation.
The firm does legal work for Mount Holyoke and the other schools in the Five
College Consortium.
The law firm encourages its partners to take on pro bono work as well. “When
I was at Mount Holyoke,” said Kennedy, “I had a belief that I could
make a difference in society. At Mount Holyoke you learn you will make a difference
no matter what your major is or where you go after college. After 15 years of
practicing law, I’m still making a difference. It’s not naïve
to believe that you can.”
The three partners came to Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas through a variety
of routes. Bernardo grew up in Ludlow and attended Suffolk Law School in Boston;
Kennedy grew up in Greenfield and went to Boston’s Northeastern University
Law School. Both women opted to return to western Massachusetts after law school
and were offered jobs at Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas.
Phelps, who attended Western New England College Law School after spending a
post-Mount Holyoke year travelling in Greece, began her law career working for
the City of Springfield as a prosecutor. But it wasn’t long before she
knew that prosecuting street criminals was not in her long-term plans. She transferred
into the city’s municipal bond department and then went into private practice,
moving to Bulkley, Richardson and Gelinas in 2000. Phelps has recently spearheaded
the development of a government strategies department at the firm, which represents
institutional clients in their interaction with municipal, state, and federal
governmental agencies. The firm offers a range of services, including help interpreting
and complying with regulations and locating sources for grants.
The women, who all have families, have found that keeping work and family going
can be tricky, but they agree that it’s healthy for children to have mothers
who are strong professional role models. Bernardo, who has an 11-year-old son
and seven-year-old twin daughters, said, “It’s a valuable lesson
for kids to grow up with a strong working mother who is also a kind, loving mother.” She
is grateful that the firm let her work part-time for the first three years after
the twins were born. “It’s not common for firms this size to allow
this. My colleagues were accommodating and supportive.” Computer networking
has also made the balancing of home and work life much easier. “I can work
on the computer at home if I have a deadline or my kids are sick. I can fulfill
the mother and work obligations,” said Bernardo. “Technology, compassion,
and sympathy make it work.”
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