Kimberly Cook and Emily Walsh Ascend in Legal World, Found Portland-Based Law Firm

A funny thing happened on the way to an environmental career for Unity College alumnae Kimberley (Boggiatto) Cook ’93, Environmental Studies, and Emily Walsh ’01, Environmental Education, they went to law school and became rising stars in Maine’s legal world. 

With neither woman having reached the age of 40, in the Fall of 2007 they merged their considerable talents and legal experience to found Cook & Walsh LLC in Portland.   The firm was the stepsister of Cook & Associates LLC, which Cook had started in late 2006.  Both attorneys are graduates of the University of Maine School of Law.

That Cook & Walsh is an all-female law firm that may one day inspire aspiring female attorneys is beside the point.  It has always been their talent, not their gender, that created opportunities for them by virtue of their performance first and foremost.

Female attorneys do face special challenges, a point that Walsh acknowledges.  While there is a path to success, it is at best one into a fairly difficult tract.  They give back in many ways, both having visited Unity College to speak with students.  One such student who was positively influenced by meeting Walsh was Alisa Christopher ’07, who is now a first-year student at the University of Maine School of Law.

“I address (those special challenges of being a female in the male-dominated legal world) by not getting pulled into it (a gender struggle),” said Walsh.  “We work twice as hard and know the information backwards and forwards.”  In building a law firm preparation is the seed of success for Cook and Walsh now, just the same as when they were Unity College students.

Their track record since graduating from Unity is testament to their academic preparation, talent, work ethic, and determination.

While no college could take the full measure of credit for the success of alumna such as Cook and Walsh in the hyper competitive legal world, beginning with the challenges of the law school curriculum itself, both attorneys saw the benefits of their Unity degrees in practice. Both agree that Unity was the right choice for them on personal and professional levels. 

Cook and Walsh echo the point that Unity faculty afforded them the opportunity to demand the most of themselves, while keeping freedom to explore and challenge in proper balance.  Their message is one of initiative taken as students and legal practitioners.  In hindsight they feel Unity gave students the opportunity to seek their best if they were willing to take the initiative. 

“Unity had a large part in shaping who I am as a person, so of course I carry those experiences with me,” said Walsh.

“Professors (at Unity) who influenced me most were those that would get me excited about learning and encourage me to continue searching and learning to bring knowledge to the next level,” Walsh said.  “(Professor Emeriti) Dave Purdy, Wilson Hess and John Marvin were influential.  They brought out the best in me.”

“I think it is partially a tenant of the type of school that Unity is that these are the professors that are generally drawn there, and because of the size is able to spend time with students as well as make them accountable.”

They convey a message of personal responsibility, with each taking the high road to achievement in her own time at Unity College and after, even at times when they could have chosen the path of lesser resistance.

Cook and Walsh both enjoyed the warm, friendly atmosphere.  In a way, Unity’s small campus and friendly atmosphere gave them the personal confidence to easily work in a very big, complex world that includes representing clients before agencies like the Department of Environmental Protection and large companies, nonprofits and trade organizations before the state legislature.

Cook and Walsh have been friends since law school.  They’ve worked on projects together as attorneys.  Founding a two-person law firm did not seem a stretch but more of a natural progression.

“Kim had decided to establish (her own firm) Cook & Associates, LLC, a year ago and I have been working with her for the past several months.  I think that we both recognized the possibilities of truly combining our efforts into one entity,” explained Walsh.

“We have common interests and goals, and maintain a good working and personal relationship,” said Walsh.   

Their goals are to build a successful law firm with a solid reputation in the areas of environmental and land use law, and state and local government relations.

Walsh has a message for Unity College students considering a career in the law.

“Be clear about what you want and work hard to make it possible,” said Walsh.  “Seek advice from anyone and everyone that you can.”