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Women Of Excellence: Diane Prucino
Co-managing partner, Kilpatrick Stockton LLP
by Terri Thornton
July 1, 2008
T
here weren't many female lawyers when Prucino was a young associate. But that doesn't
mean there weren't mentors. Labor and employment attorney Duane Aldrich took the fledgling lawyer
under his wing, both guiding and challenging her.
"He trained me, he gave me good assignments – he pushed me out there and made me try cases
and handle hearings when I didn't think I was ready," Prucino recalls. They grew to be good friends
before he passed away in 1997.
"I said one day, ‘Why did you take such an interest in me, because I don't know that I would
have ever stayed at a big firm without that?' He said, ‘Because I have daughters.'"
Prucino knew she wanted to be a lawyer from the time she was in high school. When a career
assessment test showed a high aptitude for legal skills, she took a summer job at a law firm. After
long-time friend Louise Wells (now a partner at Morris, Manning & Martin) went to law school,
Prucino thought, "If she can do it, so can I."
After graduation, Prucino chose Kilpatrick Stockton because of its people and culture. Since the firm did corporate defense work, she found her niche defending companies against discrimination claims.
Going from practicing law to leading a large law firm (along with co-managing partner Bill Dorris) was a challenge, but one she has mastered.
"Diane has the unique ability not to take herself too seriously," says law partner David Zacks. "She leads but also blends with us rather than feeling she is ‘over' us."
Another colleague, Richard Hankins, describes Prucino as having a perfect mix of knowledge, common sense and compassion. "She's the kind of lawyer that clients want to have on their speed dial."
Prucino has seen the business of law change dramatically. Ten years ago, unless she was at a client's office or in court, she spent all day on the phone. "Today we're all on the computer all day exchanging e-mails with our clients," she says. Even the voicemail is computerized. "You click and you hear the person's voice talking to you out of your computer," she says. "Technology has altered the practice of law incredibly."
One of the most gratifying things about her current job is working with the firm's pro bono outreach. Her current project is The Freedom Writers program at Atlanta's Booker T. Washington High School, which emphasizes journaling and writing.
For women considering a legal cereer, she recommends honing writing and organizational skills and finding a great mentor. She also advises young women to go in with their eyes open – don't expect regular hours or school holidays off. But she also points out that many organizations now cultivate formal mentoring relationships.
"Finding a mentor when you get into your first legal job probably matters more than any single other factor in terms of being a predictor of success."
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