The Membership Committee proudly announces Kim Boyle as our February Member of the Month. Kim is a well-respected powerhouse in the legal community and an avid supporter of our organization. Her contributions to our organization are invaluable, and we are privileged to have her as our Member.
Tell us about yourself
I am a proud native New Orleanian. My father was a postal worker for many years and my mother is a retired public school teacher. Other than attending college and law school out of state, I have always lived in the City of New Orleans. I grew up in the Gentilly neighborhood in New Orleans and attended Benjamin Franklin High School when it was still uptown near the River bend. After graduating from law school, I moved back to New Orleans in 1987 and started practicing law.
I have been privileged to have the opportunity to work in different legal settings and to engage in various areas of the law. I started my practice at a medium size law firm which no longer exists, and then became an associate at a large downtown law firm for almost six years. The year before I would have been considered for partnership at that law firm, I was asked by Dean Louis Wester field, the first African American law school dean at Loyola University, and the first African American law school dean at the University of Mississippi to apply to become a full time professor at the law school. For those lawyers in our community who studied under Dean Wester field, you may recall how persuasive he could be. I decided to apply for the position with the assumption that I would not be hired. I was hired as an Assistant Law Professor at Loyola for the Fall Semester of 1993, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. I only taught for two years at Loyola, but had a phenomenal time. I had the honor of teaching individuals who are now state court judges, CEOs, general counsels, partners at law firm, entrepreneurs, social activists, and the list goes on and on. After two years, several of my colleagues from my former firm and I decided to start our own minority owned law firm, where we had the opportunity to work on a number of cutting edge issues, particularly involving governmental representation, that were complex, interesting and exciting.
After six years, I had the honor and privilege of being appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to sit as a Judge Pro Tempore at Civil District Court for Division I, after Judge Love was elected to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal. I sat for almost one year and it was one of the best professional experiences in my 32 years of practice. After I finished my appointment as a Judge Pro Tempore at Civil District Court, I accepted an offer as a partner in the Employment Law Group at Phelps Dunbar, where I have been since June of 2001. I have had the opportunity at Phelps to work with individuals who are not just great lawyers but phenomenal people, who have become some of my best friends.
Similar to all Martinet members, I work a lot and spend a lot of time on matters for our clients. However, my parents taught my brother and myself that “to whom much is given, much is expected.” I have been beyond blessed to have had two loving and supportive parents, a great brother, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew, grandmothers, aunts and uncles and great aunts and uncles, cousins and absolutely tremendous friends, who have blessed me with their love, support and sacrifice for my entire life. I have so many memories of my parents sacrificing for me to attend college and law school away from home, and my Mom packing and sending me “care packages” and my Dad sending me $20 or $25 every few weeks so that I could have “hamburger money” to go out with my friends. I remember the sacrifices and support, and more importantly, the prayers of many of my older relatives, many of whom did not finish high school, but were brilliant and talented individuals who were extremely limited in what they could do in life because they grew up in the segregated South. And I remember my paternal grandmother and great uncle, who were in their eighties, and attending my swearing in as a lawyer in 1987. Therefore, I do feel it is extremely important to try to give back in some small degree, in whatever way our schedules and life commitments allow, and for us, as a community but also as individuals, “to pay it forward.” So I do spend a good bit of time working with groups and individuals on various issues to try to make our community better.
On a personal note, I absolutely love spending time with my family and friends when I am not working. Because all of us are so busy, I usually meet my friends for dinner because I do not cook at all. 😊 I love going to sporting events, and I am an avid Saints Fan (“Who Dat!”), and Pelicans fan, and recently just saw Zion Williamson play for the Pelicans for the first time. I am passionate about music, particularly, live music, and consider myself one of Stevie Wonder’s biggest fans. I do not miss going to Jazz Fest every year and try to go to various concerts throughout the year. However, I am always happy just spending time with my Mom (my father is now deceased), other relatives and my close friends.
Why did you choose to become an attorney?
While I know that this sounds like the standard answer that every lawyers gives, but I really did always want to be an attorney. I never gave serious thought or consideration to any other career. I thought (and continue to think) that my personal skill set was suited to advocacy through writing and speaking. More important, however, I believe that attorneys have a tremendous potential to positively impact and change our society and can speak for those who are not able to speak for themselves. This is one of the reasons that I am thrilled that Hollywood has just released the movie, “Just Mercy,” based upon Bryan Stevenson’s memoir and his extraordinary work to change the criminal justice system, particularly for people of color.
What are the benefits of being a member of the Greater New Orleans Louis A. Martinet Society?
The benefits to all of us of being members of Martinet are really too numerous to discuss in the newsletter, but I will focus upon just a few. First, it is an honor to be a member of an organization that was established by giants and trailblazers in the legal profession to not only promote the administration of justice, but to also create an organization for African American attorneys to work together, learn together and to address issues of critical importance to our community, in a time when we could not join other legal organizations. I remember being sworn in as President of the New Orleans Bar Association (“NOBA”) in November of 2002, and Justice Revius Ortique, one of Martinet’s founders and the first African American justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court, attending that dinner and telling me about how we were precluded from even being members of NOBA because of our race, but happy to see me become the first African American president of NOBA many years later. Second, membership in Martinet allows for phenomenal CLE programming at super reasonable pricing, which is a benefit to many attorneys who are just starting out in their careers. Third, Martinet’s focus on bringing lawyers of color up through the pipeline is of tremendous benefit to attorneys of color through the Phenomenal Pathways and Pipelines to Success program, which has had phenomenal success since its inception five years ago. Fourth, Martinet focus upon mentorship of young people in our community, and commitment to children. I was honored to participate in Martinet’s Mock Trial Camp this past year at Dillard University, which was a great experience for 7th and 8th graders to learn about the legal system and to actually try a case in front of a panel of real judges in Louisiana. This program is educational and is the type of creative programming that we need. Fifth, Martinet allows us to connect and address career and professional issues and to receive advice and input from lawyers and judges who have faced many of the same professional issues. I think that being a member of the Louis A. Martinet Society is absolutely critical, particularly at a time where our nation is becoming even more divided on issues of race.
What is your favorite Martinet event and why?
My favorite Martinet event, by far, is the Fall Scholarship Brunch. First of all, you have the opportunity to see everyone at that event and to catch up with old friends who you may not see on a regular basis. Through the hard work of Martinet’s officers and committee chairs, the Scholarship Brunch has become the “place to be” on the scheduled Saturday morning and it is fun to see everyone and catch up. More important, however, Martinet is raising scholarship money that allows students to focus upon school and complete their legal education. For most African American law students and law students of color, money (or lack thereof) is one of the primary things that impact our lack school careers, as many African American students and students of color are working full time (or close to full time) while attending law school full time, to pay the bills. Martinet’s commitment to providing monetary scholarships to talented students cannot be emphasized enough and I think that this is one of the most important things (amongst many) that Martinet does in our community.
Tell us about other organizations you are involved in and other causes you support, and why.
I have been honored to have been involved in a number of organizations on a local, state and even national level. I do think that it is important for lawyers to be actively involved in addressing issues that impact the legal profession shaping the vision of the profession for the future, so I have spent a significant portion of my legal career