Michelle Reed Featured in Dallas TV Interview on Work/Family Balance

Michelle Reed, a partner in the litigation practice at Akin Gump in Dallas, has been featured in a profile on WFAA-TV, “Original: Michelle Reed balances work, family, and other families,” sharing her perspectives on being a female business leader.

Reed discusses her work helping to build Akin Gump’s cybersecurity, privacy and data protection practice, which she co-heads, observing that there are now more than 50 lawyers across the firm who are part of the group. She also talks about bucking gender stereotypes, stating that, if you win and work hard for your clients, “eventually it doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman. They just want success.”

Part of that success, Reed said, has been helping other women at Akin Gump, and accommodating female employees has been a huge priority for her. She noted that she is “tired of the world saying you can’t have it all, because the reality is you can,” adding that she is a better lawyer and a better mother because of the way she has made it work.

The story reports that Reed spends much of her “off” time helping families that are seeking asylum in the United States. It’s worth it to her, she said, “because if we don't do it, nothing will change. … If others and the judge don’t want to say that it’s persecution, I will say it’s persecution. And I will appeal it, and I will keep appealing it until people listen. And even if we never win, that family is different because someone in America cared for them.”