Sister, counsel, partner

Connie McFarland-Butler is Armstrong Teasdale’s first black female partner

By Meliqueica Meadows

Of the St. Louis American

Connie McFarland-Butler is the first African-American female partner in the nearly 105-year-old Armstrong Teasdale law firm – quite a feat for a girl from West Point, Miss., population 13,500.

“I try not to take myself too seriously,” she said. “But I recognize that it is an accomplishment and that it also provides an example to other African-American young men and women.”

It was back in West Point, as a high school junior, that Butler was first ignited with a passion for law when her government teacher, Mr. Smith, selected her to participate in a mock trial.

“My teacher chose me to be the defense attorney,” Butler said. “We had co-counsel, so we got to go around and meet with lawyers and learn the process of preparing for trial.”

She said she knew she’d found her niche “when I cross examined one of my classmates. It was sealed from there on out. I just had so much fun with it that I said, ‘I’m going to get paid to do this.’”

After graduating as class salutatorian of West Point High in 1988, McFarland came to St. Louis, where she earned a BA from Washington University in 1991. In 1996 she earned her Juris Doctorate from the Washington University School of Law. She currently is a member of the International Association of Defense Council as well as the Missouri and Illinois State Bar Associations.

In 1995, as a second-year law student, Butler began an internship with Armstrong Teasdale. The next year she was hired full-time. In January 2004 she was named the first black female partner. Attorney Steven Cousins was the first African-American partner in the firm’s history.

Even now, Butler said, it is the excitement of standing before a jury and making her case that drives her.

“I get that feeling during closing arguments,” she said.

“Unfortunately, fewer cases, particularly civil cases, are going to trial. When you’re thinking of being a trial lawyer, the most exhilarating thing is to seal the closing argument and to know that you have gotten your point across to the jury.”

And when she’s not chasing the thrill of closing a case, she’s chasing children. Butler is the mother of three: sons Jordan and Jonathan, ages eight and five, and three-year-old daughter Jasmine. She is stepmother of 16-year-old twin sons and has been married to her husband Wayman Butler III for 10 years.

“When you’ve got five kids, it’s got to be a team effort,” she said.

“We have to sit down with the calendar two to three weeks in advance to determine the events that I need to attend and the things he needs to attend.”

To keep up with her family responsibilities, Butler typically operates on about three hours of sleep per night when her workload is at its heaviest.

“I have very interesting hours,” she said. “I try to make it home for dinner every night so the kids have a routine, but it’s a balancing act.”

Founded in 1901, Armstrong Teasdale is one of the largest law firms in St. Louis, with more than 250 attorneys. In addition to the main office in St. Louis, the firm has offices in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, Kansas City and Shanghai. In the March 2006 issue of Intellectual Property Today magazine, the firm was named one of the top patent firms and ranked #65 out of 300 law firms across the nation.

The firm has a strong commitment to diversity. A National Association Law Placement Study ranks Armstrong Teasdale third among St. Louis and Kansas City law firms in percentage of minority attorneys, and nearly half of the firm’s associates are women. For the past nine years, the firm has participated in minority clerkship programs, and it has a minority recruitment committee. The firm became a charter member of the St. Louis Business Diversity Initiative in 2002.

Butler said she would tell young African-American women aspiring to fill her shoes to start the journey early.

“Writing is important,” Butler said. “Increasingly, cases are being won with pen and paper and not with those exciting closing arguments that lawyers are known for.”

Her prescription for success includes taking college preparatory classes in high school and studying subjects like philosophy and debate and participating in mock trials.

“You’ve got to start that process today,” she said. “You’ve got to have a goal and a systematic way of achieving that goal.”