If it pleases the court, we present for your consideration Robyn Allmendinger.
It's easy to make the assumption that Allmendinger would be welcome in any kind of court although she rarely has seen the inside of one. After all, she has a law degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bowen School of Law and she has worked for 18 years as a lawyer for the venerable Rose Law Firm, which celebrates an astonishing birthday on Nov. 1. The Rose Law Firm will be 200 years old.
Allmendinger has a crucial and historic role at the firm, serving as the first female managing director -- more or less the chief executive officer. The downtown Little Rock law practice isn't short on history or lauded former employees. Rose Law Firm, which claims the title as the oldest law firm west of the Mississippi, includes a roster of employees who have gone on to be Arkansas state representatives, president of the Little Rock School Board and with Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state.
Though attention might be great on past and current Rose Law Firm lawyers, it is not something that Allmendinger has sought out.
"I don't like to be in the spotlight," Allmendinger says. "I was at first reluctant to [take on the role of managing director]. When the position came open, they asked me to take the time and consider it. It was not anything I saw myself doing."
Paul Parnell, chief financial officer and lawyer at the Rose Law Firm, confirms Allmendinger's hesitance.
She "didn't want it," Parnell says. "Many of us thought that she made the perfect fit for the role. All lawyers seem to have an ego except for Robyn. She doesn't and she puts the firm first. Her approach is collaborative and she has great poise and calm."
A weekend of prayer and careful thought eventually swayed Allmendinger and she accepted the job of managing director. She doesn't hide her pride in her law firm.
"It's cliché I suppose to say that every firm has its own culture," Allmendinger says. "This place is like family. Everybody knows each other and their kids' names. We like each other and we like coming to work here. And we are very proud of our 200th anniversary."
BEFORE STARBUCKS
Allmendinger dates herself by the growth of west Little Rock where she spent her childhood days. When she was young, west Little Rock development -- shopping complexes and Starbucks at every turn -- was years away.
"I remember that the end of Shackleford [Road] was gravel."
Both of Allmendinger's parents worked in health care. Her father was a registered nurse who ran a surgery center. Her mother worked at the audiology clinic at Veterans Affairs. She has a sister, Shelley, who is eight years older. The age difference meant that "my sister was doing her own thing."
Allmendinger says growing up as she did on a cul de sac made for fun days with her friends next door.
"I had friends on either side of our house," Allmendinger recalls. "There was a big dirt mound where we played King of the Mountain. We rode Hot Wheels in the street. We had a lot of outdoor time. I look back now and think a lot of that was because of where we lived. I wish my kids could grow up on a cul de sac."
Even though Allmendinger revels in all the outdoor time she had as a child, she has no problem admitting to being a "bookworm."
"I have always liked to read," Allmendinger says.
She wasn't much of one for sports though she did try her hand at volleyball and basketball.
"My dad was so excited about me playing. He was hopeful that I might have a career. I only played one season in basketball and volleyball."
In her brief sporting career, Allmendinger had a memorable moment -- it wouldn't, however, show up on any highlight reel.
"I remember I shot at the wrong goal. Everybody knew. I was devastated at the time. I can laugh about it now."
Allmendinger was much more comfortable in the classroom. She attended Baker Elementary through the fourth grade. Things that others thought were dull and dreary, Allmendinger saw as fascinating and even fun.
"I am kind of a grammar nerd," Allmendinger admits. "I remember Mrs. Bishop taught us sentence diagramming in the seventh grade. I remember her at the board diagramming this really long sentence. I loved that. I thought that was amazing."
The all-girl Catholic school Mount St. Mary Academy is where Allmendinger spent her high school years. She was in a few clubs and was a member of the Model U.N. However, her regular classwork garnered most of Allmendinger's attention. It paid off and she was named valedictorian of her class.
College was practically a given in her house. She considered a few out of state schools but settled on Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas.
"I looked at Rhodes in Memphis and Washington University [in St. Louis]," Allmendinger says. "But I wanted to be in Arkansas. Also, there was the fact that my boyfriend at the time-- now my husband -- was going to go to Arkansas."
Though Allmendinger and her husband, Kyle, recently celebrated their 20th anniversary, she is not exactly sure about the first time she met him.
"A group of girls from Mount St. Mary would hang out with boys from Catholic High School at the Wendy's on Cantrell. That had to be where we saw each other first. We started dating the summer after my sophomore year. We were pretty serious in high school."
The monumental first date? Allmendinger remembers that -- a showing of the 1993 Sylvester Stallone in-no-way classic "Cliffhanger" at Park Plaza mall.
Synopsis of movie: Outdoor thriller in which a former mountain rescuer is pitted against a group of criminals who have lost their $100 million stash during a plane crash in the Rocky Mountains. After being persuaded to help rescue a group of stranded hikers, he discovers that they are in fact a gang of violent robbers who need help to locate their missing loot.
Synopsis of date: 10 thumbs up!
"He has a great, outgoing personality," says Allmendinger of Kyle. "He is really funny and sarcastic. I am reserved and shy and introverted. He played sports and was athletic. He was on the football team. Everybody likes him."
Though it seems like she is done listing good qualities of her husband, she adds one more.
"He is very cute!"
READING OLD CASES
At Fayetteville, Allmendinger decided to major in business. A business law class turned her in another direction.
"We looked at case studies on business matters and how the law is involved," Allmendinger says. "I really enjoyed it. Up to that point, I thought a lawyer had to be in a courtroom. I didn't know what else you could do with a law degree. Being shy, that idea of not having to stand up in a courtroom appealed to me."
Allmendinger pledged and was accepted into the Chi Omega sorority. She lived for four years in the Chi Omega house and when the time came she was not ready to leave.
"Many of my closest friends I met there. We had so much fun together -- you shared your life with those girls. I remember the day I left to go back home to Little Rock. Some of us stood around in the house not wanting to go. That chapter of my life was over. I cried all the way to Russellville."
The first year of law school is notoriously tough. Allmendinger's first year at UALR Law School was softened by her Little Rock support system that included the young graduate of UA moving back home where mom "did my laundry."
"It was challenging," says Allmendinger of that first year. "You have to love to read, which I do. You are reading all night these old cases and they are hard."
Reading, however difficult, was right in Allmendinger's wheelhouse. Standing up in class and answering questions from professors made her nerves jump.
"UALR goes with the Socratic method. Professors call on you and use the answers to teach the class. That made me super nervous. Knowing that you could be called on and had to speak in front of everyone. I will say that was motivation to be prepared so you wouldn't look like an idiot."
Working as a clerk in her third year of law school led Allmendinger to land a permanent position at Rose Law Firm. For the last 18 years, she has worked as a transactional lawyer there. She has received a trophy case full of accolades and honors including Best Lawyers in Arkansas' "Lawyer of the Year" in Securities/Capital Markets Law in Little Rock.
That's all well and good but what does a transactional lawyer do anyway?
"On the question about cases that I do, I don't really have what you might be thinking of as litigation matters," Allmendinger says. "I work on transactional deals, mostly in the areas of real estate, acquisitions and commercial financings. Generally, this work is very satisfying in that at the end of the day when we have closed a deal, both sides are happy. One business sold something they wanted to sell and another business bought something they wanted to acquire."
To this day Allmendinger continues her transactional law work even as she accepted the new responsibility of managing director.
Breaking this particular glass ceiling means a great deal to Allmendinger. Even so, she has been surprised at the reaction once the word got out.
"I knew that would be a big deal and would get press," Allmendinger says. "I was overwhelmed at the notes and emails I received. I mean, people from my Sandpiper days when I was a kid got in touch with me."
Allmendinger puts this recognition together with her being able to have children -- specifically two boys -- while continuing to work at the Rose Law Firm. Maybe for the first time, this kind of spotlight doesn't make the normally shy lawyer uncomfortable.
"People said to me I can show this to my daughters. You can lead a law firm and have a family. I had no idea [becoming a managing director] would [affect] people the way it did. They made an announcement at Mount St. Mary's."