McTorry balances justice, family and community as associate judge in Houston
The American Bar Association Journal recently published a thoughtful and encouraging message to lawyering mothers written by Belmont Law alumna Kimberly McTorry. In her list of “5 ways motherhood has leveled up your lawyer skills,” McTorry places multitasking at the top.
“Our ability to order dinner while simultaneously locating a shin guard in the trunk while muted on a Zoom call is what makes you a remarkable lawyer.”
Although McTorry’s motherhood journey began a year before her foray into law, discovering that she was pregnant with her second child in the first week of law school proved to be the ultimate crucible experience in mastering multitasking.
“I Skyped into class from the delivery room,” McTorry said. “After my daughter was born, I was literally holding a baby in one arm and a textbook in the other.”
Finding Family in Belmont Law
As a student of Belmont Law’s inaugural cohort and the first to have a baby in the new program, McTorry fondly remembers the support she experienced from her peers and professors. Her newly acquainted classmates organized a baby shower and her professors arranged for her to take midterms early.
“It was so encouraging,” she said. “We all worked together to pull for each other and make sure that we all succeeded in the program –– that will stay with me forever. To this day, Belmont is like a second family for me.”
In April 2023, McTorry was appointed as an associate judge for the Harris County District Courts in Houston, Texas where she presides over 26 district courts.
Immediately upon graduating in 2014 from Belmont Law’s first cohort, the Nashville native and her family moved to Houston for her to become a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. McTorry worked with Federal agents to combat human trafficking, defended against child sex crimes and advocated for the most vulnerable as a special victims prosecutor.
She later started her own criminal defense practice, protecting the constitutional rights of people accused of crime and representing them. Although McTorry has her hands full as an associate judge for the nation’s third-largest county and a mother of four, she has been able to maintain a balance and energy in her work by remembering and applying a key insight she gained during her time at Belmont.
“The people that are the most uneasy and unsettled in their careers are usually the people that may not clearly understand their why,” she explained. “Belmont helped to impart the importance of understanding why you’re here and why you want to be a lawyer.”
Living Out Her Why
McTorry is living out her why in an inspiring way as an associate judge, family woman and mentor in the community.
One project McTorry is particularly proud of among her various community engagements is a six-week mock trial program for high school students. For its first year, the Mentorship Mock-Trial Program will run at Hall Success Academy, a credit recovery school in Houston.
“A lot of these students have overcome obstacles in graduating,” she said. “I wanted the program to specifically be for students who have had to face challenges so that they can have an opportunity to participate in these types of programs as well.”
As a first-generation college and law student who has experienced economic hardship, McTorry is living proof that mentorship and access to new opportunities can be a catalyst to success.
"The absence of exposure is what keeps people disenfranchised,” McTorry commented. “I really wanted to make sure that the program is at schools that don't usually have those opportunities. Having mentors and people show up for me are the reason why I am where I am.”
Along with educating students about the principles of law, McTorry's Mentorship Mock Trial Program will focus on building confidence and teaching students how to articulate and express their viewpoints and tell their story in impactful ways.
"I think the biggest reason why I love being a trial attorney and why I went into law is because I love the art of storytelling and how powerful someone's story can be,” she said. “Those are skills that you use to craft your personal statement. Those are skills you can take into setting when you're interviewing for a job.”
McTorry will also award a scholarship to one student at the end of the program who has excelled the most throughout the six weeks.
In the fall, the inaugural cohort of Belmont College of Law will celebrate its 10-year anniversary and McTorry is excited to come back and reconnect the robust network of professors, colleagues and friends she established as a student.
“One major thing that I learned at Belmont about was the importance of building meaningful relationships and networking,” she said. “While I miss many of the mentors I have in Nashville, I still keep in touch with them. Those are the people that I call to this day.”
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