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| Patrick Kelly: Driven to Serve Patrick
Kelly’s St. Paul office is deceptively low-key. A model boat on an
end table, the requisite wall of diplomas, a desk piled high with
paper … except for a handful of family photos stationed here and there,
it could be the office of any lawyer in the country. A small, antique globe gives the only hint of
the firm’s international reach.
Even the attorney behind the desk looks like the
standard model: suit, tie, white shirt, silver hair … and then he
opens his mouth and the stories begin to flow. There was the time
he was stopped by the British Army on his motorcycle at a roadblock
in Ireland during “The Troubles” in that country. And the time he
was stranded in the Bahamas during college and had to talk his way
home mile by mile without a penny in his pocket. And the time he almost
crashed an airplane at the downtown St. Paul airport. That last one is a good one. Kelly was a young lawyer,
not long married, with a yen for adventure. Flying lessons seemed
like a safe enough outlet for a man with responsibilities. On this
particular day, the goal was to sharpen his takeoffs and landings,
down at Holman Field. His wife Mary was waiting for him in the small
building that serves as the municipal airport’s lobby and business
office. Now the story splits in two. From Pat’s perspective,
the situation was perhaps serious, but not dire. He brought the plane
in too low, or perhaps too fast, or … in any case, the stall lights
came on and he was losing control of the plane and it would take a
fair piece of effort and perhaps prayer to bring it right before it
would crash into the runway or perhaps even the terminal. Mary, sitting in the lobby with a host of experienced
air personnel, had the benefit of their gasps and exclamations, not
to mention the cacophony of alarms ringing throughout the building
to help her gauge the seriousness of the situation. Even so, somehow
she knew everything would be alright, as she always did when Pat was
involved. “I remember standing in that lobby in Holman Field
and the alarms were going off and people were panicking and I don’t
know why but I said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s just my husband.’” Mary laughs when she tells that story. From her
perspective, then and now, the situation probably was serious, but what could you do? As long as she had known Pat,
he had had what she calls “a dangerous side,” balanced by a “nine
lives kind of thing.” He took risks but they always seemed to work
out. As for Mary, she says she learned early on to give up worrying
about her husband. Even so, it’s telling to note that Pat quit the
flying lessons; not long after, Mary became pregnant with their first
child and life got too busy in the Kelly household for those kinds
of hobbies. Building a Career It’s the latest turn in a professional journey that
started in high school, when Kelly began working for his father’s
construction crew. Although one might expect the owner’s son to get
preferential treatment, Kelly had the opposite experience. His father’s
directive: “He always said I had to be a half-hour early to work and
stay a half-hour after everyone else left, because I was his son,”
Kelly recalls. The habit stuck, spilling over into his law practice.
“I still carry that today,” Kelly notes. “That drives them crazy here,
especially the young ones. The first face they see in the morning
is me and I’m the last one they see at night.” Kelly stayed with the construction crew through
high school and college, partly because the money was good, and partly
because he enjoyed being with the other workers. “I really got a sense
of the hard-working American, working a full day at really hard labor,”
he says. “They were working to get an education for their kids.” Kelly was working toward his education too, first
as a high school student in St. Thomas Academy, and then as a philosophy
and English major at Marquette University. In between, he took lessons
from his blue collar friends on the construction crews: How to understand
unions, how to keep your mouth shut, how to communicate, how to work
hard. He didn’t know it at the time, but these were seeds that would
later take root in his law practice. Perhaps the seminal college experience for Kelly
was the year he spent abroad, at National University of Ireland. If
he had been able to get by before on his native intelligence, that
ability was severely challenged in this new setting. As he tells it,
“The first day I’m dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and I walk into
philosophy class and everyone’s in black suits. And the professor
is lecturing and he says, ‘We’re going to lose too much in translation.
We’ll just do it in French.’ and he switches over to giving the lecture
in French. And everyone just followed along. These were really dedicated
students — they were just able to do that. We did all the philosophers
that way … Nietzsche in German, Aristotle in Greek … I just learned
to figure things out. I had to.” Kelly graduated from college in 1971, when the United
States was still involved in Vietnam. He volunteered for the Army,
choosing the infantry because he felt “it was the right thing to do,”
notwithstanding his very good friend who had become a conscientious
objector, and other friends who were protesting the war. His two-year
tour ended while he was in training in the States, and the Army “downsized”
him into the Reserves, where he eventually left with the rank of captain.
Near the end of his second year in the Army, Kelly
received a call from a former dean at Marquette who was now the vice
president of Creighton University. He was recruiting students and
wanted Kelly to study there. Abandoning half-formed plans to take
an MBA at an East Coast school, Kelly agreed. Three years later he
graduated with a J.D. and began practicing with Lais, Bannigan &
Ciresi in St. Paul, the firm that would eventually become Bannigan
& Kelly and then Kelly & Fawcett. Diversity in Practice Chad Lemmons, a junior partner at the firm who has
known Kelly for 20 years, says his boss is “about the hardest-working
attorney I’ve ever seen,” citing as an example the numerous night
meetings required by Kelly’s municipal clients. As the consulting
attorney for White Bear Township and several metro area cities, Kelly
regularly attends town board and city council meetings, as well as
interim planning sessions for each of these clients. In the case of
one municipality alone, that means one night a week is spent in a
council meeting. As Lemmons notes, “Those meetings can go until 1:00
a.m. in some cases. When you start the day at 7:00, it gets to be
a long day.” Although Kelly has begun assigning other attorneys
to some meetings, he still attends the majority himself. Lemmons doesn’t
see it as a control issue on Kelly’s part but as a genuine desire
to serve his clients. Bill Short, the clerk-treasurer of White Bear Township
who has worked with Kelly in those board meetings for more than a
decade, echoes Lemmons’ assessment. “One thing is clear to me and
the board,” Short says. “When he is working on something with us or
at a town board meeting, it’s the most important thing to him at the
moment. He never looks like he’s thinking about something else. He’s
always focused on us and what we need.” Until recently, David Thomalla, chief of police
for the city of Maplewood, got to see Kelly’s work from two perspectives:
Kelly was both the city attorney and the prosecuting attorney for
Maplewood, allowing him to handle both civil and criminal issues.
“That is great for us,” Thomalla notes, “because it gives us a one-stop
shop in an attorney. Some issues tend to blend together, such as liquor
license violations. To be able to sit down with one person and deal
with one perspective is a time saver and a money saver for the city.” Both Short and Thomalla call Kelly innovative and
creative in his consulting and problem-solving; as chief of police,
Thomalla also appreciates Kelly’s support of his officers. “He’s just
a real pro-police attorney,” he says. “It’s tremendous. Pat and his
attorneys are willing to take some of the tough cases and follow through.
That speaks highly of Pat. It’s reassuring that our officers aren’t
going through the motions and not having their cases resolved.” It would be easy to assume that Kelly, whose primary
work puts him at a conference table, would have a weak spot when it
comes to litigation. According to Terry Foy, who has faced Kelly in
court, that would be a mistake. Foy, a shareholder with Ratwik Roszak
& Maloney in Minneapolis, says simply: “He is a litigator. He
is one of the best cross-examiners I’ve ever seen.” As Foy tells it, “I met Pat in the mid-90s when
we fought a halcyon series of disputes during which we formed a mutual
friendship and grudging respect for each other. I remember thinking,
‘This guy is good.’ I was representing a municipality and he was representing
labor. One of the things that impressed me about Pat is that he is
an excellent litigator and advocate for his client. But also that
he told me early on in our proceedings, ‘Yeah, we’re going to have
to work through this, but after it’s all done, we’re going to have
to work on the underlying issues that created these problems.’ That
showed me that Pat is more than just a litigator. He really catches
the concept of a lawyer as a problem solver. He understands that the
employer and union may be battling hammer and tongs, but they still
have to work together.” Commitment to Community Ed Cleary, Ramsey County District Court judge and
a longtime friend of Kelly’s, believes Kelly’s commitment to the community
comes from a background they share: being raised by strong-willed
Irish Catholic fathers who “had strong ways of doing things. Religion
played a big part in our fathers’ lives and his Catholicism is a strong
part of who Pat is,” Cleary notes. Cleary got to see Kelly’s moral framework up close
several years ago when he led the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility
and asked Kelly to head the Ethics Committee for the Ramsey County
Bar Association, an organization Kelly has also served as president.
It was a choice Cleary grew to appreciate as he saw Kelly in the role.
“I think when it comes to issues of ethics and integrity he is among
the finest lawyers in that regard. With Pat it’s an everyday thing,”
Cleary says. Community involvement can take many forms. One interesting
outlet Kelly has found is in coaching softball and baseball over the
years. It started with his son Joe’s t-ball team and expanded to Little
League baseball, all the way up to serving as commissioner of the
league. He coached daughter Shannon in t-ball and on the boy’s baseball
team, and is now coaching his youngest, Brigid, in her fast-pitch
softball team. To date, Kelly has put in nearly two decades of coaching. One sign of his success in this endeavor is the
praise he earns from parents of the players. Jane Burd of St. Paul
put her young daughter Sarah on Kelly’s teams for three years. Kelly’s
impact on her was indelible. Burd notes in particular Kelly’s insistence on fairness,
and the surprising benefits that can yield. “What is so unique about
Pat is that he always rotates every player and everyone gets the same
amount of time to play. We were in a second championship game and
it was really close. We had two outs and we could have won or lost
on a run. At that stage even a good coach would have put in a strong
hitter. But Pat’s so fair. The batter up was the smallest girl on
the team. She hasn’t had a hit all season. Not one. But it’s her turn
and he puts her in, and she hit! He knows that you’re only as good
as your weakest player. So he makes sure that your weakest players
get better. He never writes anyone off.” Kelly’s coaching skills translate to grownups as
well. John Quarnstrom, along with others, has experienced Kelly’s
teaching first hand. Now director of labor relations for the Sheet
Metal, Air Conditioning and Roofing Contractors Association, Quarnstrom
began his law career as a clerk for Kelly’s firm, and stayed on for
eight years. In addition to noting Kelly’s “amazing ability to get
along with anybody,” Quarnstrom lauds Kelly for being “a very good
boss and mentor. Patrick gave me guidance and pointed out things that
needed to change, without being brash or offensive,” Quarnstrom says.
“He can be very caring.” Taking the Helm Sue Holden, Pat’s predecessor as president, can
appreciate those comments. After a hectic year that included such
unexpected twists as Hurricane Katrina, she is handing the reins to
a leader she says “will be very good at this job,” and who has “a
tremendous sense of humor to help him through any rough spots.” For his part, Kelly says he is planning to take
the year as it comes, without developing a heavy presidential agenda.
Nevertheless, he does have a few areas he intends to promote: Judicial
independence, diversity, MSBA’s practicelaw.org,
and additional services for police officers and military families. However the year turns out, Kelly intends to take
a page from his coaching playbook and keep things in perspective.
As he says, “I tell the young ladies: ‘The great thing about baseball
is every inning is like a new game.’” Outfielders, do you have your gloves on? Patrick
Kelly’s at the plate. Patrick Kelly:
Family Man Patrick Kelly, it would
seem, is the original multitasker, finding time to be with his kids
while maintaining a schedule that sees him at the office or at meetings
at all hours. Far from resenting it, all three of his offspring —
Joe, 24, Shannon, 23, and Brigid, 12 — delight in sharing time with
him. As Shannon says, “I never felt less imporant than his work. He’s
really good at incorporating family time with whatever he has on his
plate.” One of Kelly’s secrets for family bonding is his creation
of unique traditions. According to his wife Mary, a Special Education
professional for the St. Paul School District, Kelly has always appreciated
the power of ritual, from lighting candles at Mass to saying his prayers,
which he still does each evening. His family rituals tend to take a less serious tone. There’s
the morning when he pulls up with a car full of petunias and impatiens
for the front walks. That’s how Shannon knows it’s officially spring.
There’s the Christmas lights that go up in early December and stay
until late January — a riotous collection of bulbs adorning every
bush, tree and architectural feature, all plugged into timers staged
for different hours of the evening. And then there are the Tiki torches,
a blazing celebration Kelly planted in the front lawn each time he
went to retrieve either Joe or Shannon on breaks from college. The
torches, which stayed lit for 24 hours, announced to the kids’ friends
that they were home and ready for company. The hospitality at the Kelly house is well-known to kids
and adults alike. As their friend Father Thomas Hunstiger describes
it, “The doors of the Kelly household are always open to anybody.
It’s one of those places where you can drop by on a moment’s notice
and feel welcome.” In addition to family time, such as the wicked poker games
which he tends to win, Kelly also ensures that each child gets special
attention. For Shannon, concerts were often the occasion for time
with Dad. “He’s been taking me to live concerts since I was five,”
she says. “He was always the chaperone for my friends too, so he sat
through some pretty awful music.” At home, Shannon says, her father favors Irish music played
so loudly she has to holler to be heard. She also remembers her sister’s
baby years, when her father would play Frank Sinatra while singing
and dancing for Brigid. Now that she’s 12, Brigid likes to make up dances with
her father. “A couple of years ago,” she recalls, “he found a Braveheart
CD that had the coolest song on there — just drums. My dad and I made
up a dance where we would come running in from different parts of
the house with our arms swinging and dance together. We showed all
my friends and my mom. I bet we showed her that dance 50 times.” Brigid is also enjoying learning the game of golf from
her dad, calling him “one of my role models in the game.” At 24, Kelly’s
son Joe is a bit more reserved in his judgment of his father’s skills.
Asked how he is as a golfer, Joe hesitates a moment before selecting
the right answer. “Well, you can tell that he works a lot.” Apparently
Joe means his dad is getting more of a workout than the other golfers
on the fairway — a circumstance that earned him the name Machine Gun
Kelly from the grounds crew when the two were at a Florida course.
Even so, Joe admires his father’s poise. “It’s got to be frustrating
hitting 12 balls off the first tee, but he just grabs another ball
and hits away,” Joe says. “He never throws his clubs or shows any
sign that he’s getting mad.” If Joe doesn’t aspire to his father’s golf game, he certainly
draws lessons from him otherwise. Like Shannon, who says “If I’m half
the person he is I would be so proud,” Joe says of his dad, “If there’s
any one person that I would say is my hero, it would be him. I remember
being real little and seeing him argue in court and having his client
come up, thanking not just my father but also my mother and me, for
having such a great father. When you see just how much people appreciate
what he does, you think ‘If I could be half as passionate about my
work as he is, I could make such a difference.’” Patrick Kelly – A Snapshot Personal Education Military Service Professional –Founding Partner, Kelly & Fawcett, 2000 Areas of practice: Municipal law, labor and employment
law and litigation, real estate, administrative hearings
Community Service |
