PRESIDENT'S ARTICLE
To my fellow friends of the Bar,
I am in a unique situation serving as your president while being a stay-at-home mom, and I often get questions about it. To answer those questions, and to foster what I think is an essential conversation about balance--understanding that each of us, parent or not, is constantly balancing our role as lawyers with our other life roles--I wanted to share a bit about my journey with you.
In 2015, my husband and I were expecting our second child, a little girl. When I was 29 weeks pregnant, we received very difficult news--our daughter had a rare defect called a congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). A diagnosis of CDH meant there was a large hole in her diaphragm, allowing almost all her organs into her chest cavity, and thereby crushing her lungs and displacing her heart. We were told that she had a 50/50 chance of survival and if she survived, she would spend 3 weeks to 6 months in the NICU at MUSC. During this time, I was in private practice with my amazing law partner, Jamie DeMint. We had ventured out on our own and had spent over four years building our practice. Once we received the
diagnosis, I remained with the firm but closed out every case that I could and stopped taking new cases as I prepared to move to Charleston for the birth.
Eleanor George “Ellie George” Howe was born on May 20th and we heard one strong cry before she was whisked to another room and immediately intubated. The first 24 hours were extremely difficult, as EG’s oxygen levels were low and not improving. The doctors were guarded about her prognosis. Thankfully, she improved and at 6 days old and 6 pounds, she had a successful surgery to repair her hernia. A day later, I got to hold my girl for the first time and we rejoiced in this milestone. However, recovery was to be a long process—we had to wean her off the ventilator, off the pain medicine, and wait for her body to be able to accept and process milk through a feeding tube and then orally.
When EG was three weeks old, we were able to transfer her to GHS. A week after that, we were able to take her home, which meant taking her outside for the first time. So much of this experience reminded me, and continues to remind me, how much I take for granted. It was a blessing to be home, but we still had so many challenges to face.
At three months old, we learned that she had reherniated and part of her stomach was in her chest cavity, which meant she would require another surgery. At six months, she had a second, successful surgery, but we learned that she another defect (related to the CDH) – a complex hiatal hernia. We were looking at a third major surgery. At that point in time, I made the difficult decision to leave my law practice, deciding that I could not give EG what she needed while being the partner I needed and wanted to be at the firm. I will always be grateful to Jamie for her support and encouragement during
that dark chapter.
I have been home now for two years. In September 2017, we welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby boy to our family. In December, EG had a lengthy but successful surgery, followed by a lengthy but successful recovery. I’m happy to report that she is thriving and, for the first time in a long time, we don’t have a “what’s next” in our immediate future.
It took a lot to put our story on paper, but I felt compelled to share it with you to say this:
My time at home has been such a treasure, but I am grateful to our Bar for encouraging me to stay in my leadership role. It is meaningful to me to continue to have a role outside of “mom” and I hope it is meaningful to the Bar to have a perspective different from the traditional track. Our profession is changing and changing for the better, as we become more diverse in our ranks and in our experiences. The last two years have also taught me that I must be targeted, precise and passionate in the ways I spend my limited time. In this spirit, I collaborated with our bar leadership and spearheaded our initiative to explore pro bono opportunities. This project ultimately led to the establishment of our pro bono foundation, which works in collaboration with S.C. Legal Aid, the S.C. Bar and S.C. Access to Justice. I have enjoyed working on pro bono cases through our foundation, and I encourage you to do the same. We have amazing opportunities available to lawyers of all interests and experience levels.
Last week I had the honor of representing our Bar at the ABA Equal Justice Conference as the 2018 William Reece Smith, Jr. scholarship recipient. I learned so much about how other states are addressing access to justice issues, and had the opportunity to foster relationships with S.C. Legal Aid Director, Andrea Loney, the new S.C. Bar Pro Bono Director, Stinson Ferguson (a GBar member!), the great pro bono leaders at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (including Norah Rogers and George Cauthen) and my friends at Legal Aid (Rusty Infinger, Susie Ingles and Tom Trent), as well as Justice John Few, our Commissioner for Access to Justice. My sincere hope is that there will be more collaborations in the future as we continue the tremendous momentum that we have with our foundation. If you are interested in being a part of this conversation, then I encourage you to reach out to me.
In closing, Eleanor means “light.” God said, “let light shine out of darkness.” This dark period in my life has enabled me to find my light, and find my passion, much of which has been through my Bar work. My hope for each of you today is to find that light that sets your soul on fire and find passion in what you do. Let us help you do that through the Bar!
