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TWBA Annual Kickoff

featuring keynote speaker Michelle Browning-Coughlin

As a professor at NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law and the Director of the Lunsford Academy for Law, Business + Technology, Professor Browning Coughlin oversees a program that prepares students for a multi-faceted practice of law, combining substantive legal concepts, understanding of business practices, and a recognition of the critical impact of ever-changing technology on the practice of law. She teaches a variety of courses including Women and the Law; Property Law; Trademark Law in a Social Media World; and AI, Tech & Social Justice. Prior to becoming a full-time professor, Michelle practiced for approximately fifteen years in the areas of intellectual property and technology law, where she brought her years of experience, skill, and passion for managing her client’s brands. She now brings her love for helping others to the classroom, where she works closely with students to help them find their path in the legal career and grow their professional networks.

Michelle has been included in Chambers, World Trademark Review 1000, SuperLawyers Rising Stars, and Top Lawyers-Louisville, as well as Business First’s Forty Under 40. She was also included in Louisville Business First’s Twenty People to Know in Law in May 2021.

Michelle is devoted to issues of gender equity. She served as a Commissioner on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession from 2020-2023, co-chairing the national Parents and Caregivers in the Law study. She is also the founder of the national nonprofit organization MothersEsquire®, and currently the Past President of the Board of MothersEsquire, an organization formed in 2013 which advocates for gender equity, motherhood, and caregiver issues. In November 2019, Michelle authored the children's book, My Mom, the Lawyer, and donates all proceeds of the book to MothersEsquire to support its advocacy initiatives.

In 2021, Michelle received the University of Louisville Mary K. Tachau Gender Equity Award. She received the Kentucky Bar Association’s Nathaniel R. Harper Award and the Women Lawyers Association of Jefferson County Member of the Year in 2018, and she was recognized as one of the 100 Women Who Inspire Us by the ABA’s Women in Litigation Conference in 2019.

Michelle speaks frequently on issues of gender equity in the profession, including presenting oral arguments before the Florida Supreme Court in August 2019 on a gender equity rule change, as the keynote speaker at the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Women Lawyers of Jefferson County, and 2020 ABA Women of Legal Tech Summit. Michelle and her husband are the proud parents of two wonderful teenage daughters.

If you wish to make a monetary donation in lieu of attending, you can choose from one of the designated donation registration options. If you wish to donate a different amount, you can mail a check to the TWBA or contact toledowomensbar1@gmail.com for other options. 

**** Please consider supporting the TWBA's Period Pack Event. You can support by bringing tampons, pads, and individually wrapped liners to the Kickoff or purchasing items from our Period Pack Donation Wishlist.****