Only 2% of practicing attorneys are women of color, even less are managing partners. Kimberley Wallace, founding partner of Albany-based Wallace Turner Law, literally beat the odds. For Kimberley every challenge brings new opportunities.

When confronted with high rates of recidivism as a public defender, she knew that healing her community meant treating the roots. She and her founding partner, Raysheea Turner, see home equity and entrepreneurship as the seeds of systemic change. Less than six months after opening their firm, the pandemic struck. Not to be deterred, this was a chance to test their paperless and remote law practice in earnest. Today, they help small business owners develop and implement remote strategies and first time home buyers grow generational wealth.

I sat with Kimberley to discuss her experience from law school through becoming a public defender and building a future-proof law firm.

Whats in this episode?

• Who is Kimberley Wallace?
• How growing up in Jamaica prepared her for a career in law.
• What it was like to open a business in the pandemic?
• What legacy does Kimberley Wallace want to leave behind?
• As a professor, what advice does she give her students?