Michelle Browning Coughlin
FOUNDER & Past PRESIDENT

Michelle Browning Coughlin (pronounced "Cog-lin") is a law professor at NKU Salmon P. Chase College of Law, teaching Property Law, Women & the Law, and various Intellectual Property courses. Michelle also is the Director of the Lunsford Academy for Law, Business, & Technology, an award-winning program that focuses on each student’s personal and professional development providing them with a curated honors curriculum and exclusive networking opportunities designed to enhance the traditional legal education. Michelle additionally serves as faculty advisor to two student organizations, the Norse IP Association and the Legal Association for Women.

Michelle remains Of Counsel to ND Galli Law, a woman-owned intellectual property law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she worked prior to becoming a law professor. Michelle’s experience and skill in advising clients regarding their brands, rights of publicity, and complex technology agreements provide excellent practical knowledge to share with her students.

Michelle is the Founder and Past President of MothersEsquire, which has more than 8,000 members. MothersEsquire advocates for gender equity, motherhood, and caregiver issues. Michelle authored and illustrated the children’s book, My Mom, the Lawyer, and donated all proceeds of the book to MothersEsquire.

She was appointed to the ABA Presidential Commission on Women in 2020, where she served three years as a Commissioner, working on projects continuing her work for gender equity in the legal profession. In 2023-2024, she will serve as a liaison to the Commission, continuing her leadership of the Parenting & Child Caregiver project. Before becoming full-time faculty for Chase College of Law, Michelle served as an adjunct professor of Gender Law & Policy at both Chase and the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.

In 2018, she was selected as the recipient of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Nathaniel R. Harper Award for promoting diversity in the profession, and as the Women Lawyers Association of Jefferson County Member of the Year for her work for gender equality, and in Nov. 2019, she was recognized as one of the 100 Women Who Inspire Us by the ABA’s Women in Litigation Conference.

Michelle speaks frequently on issues of gender equity in the profession, including presenting oral arguments before the Florida Supreme Court in Aug. 2019 on a gender equity rule change. Michelle was the keynote speaker for the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Women Lawyers of Jefferson County and the 2020 ABA Women of Legal Tech Summit. She serves on numerous diversity committees and is active in advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Michelle and her husband are the proud parents of two teenage daughters, who serve as Michelle’s daily inspiration to seek gender equity. Michelle has remained active in volunteer roles for her daughters’ schools, including currently serving as Chairperson of the Family Association. Michelle can be reached at michelle.coughlin75@gmail.com.