Voice of Experience: Beth Skillern, President and General Counsel, Bullivant Houser Bailey

By Tina Vasquez (Los Angeles)

From a very young age, Beth Skillern, Bullivant Houser Bailey‘s firm president and general counsel, was determined to grow up to be the kind of woman that found her own way and supported herself, an unusual aspiration for a young girl coming of age in the 50s and 60s. But her father, who she cites as her main source of inspiration, raised her to make the most of her talents. “My father really valued education because he didn’t have the opportunity to go to college,” Skillern said. “His work ethic was incredibly strong and he inspired me to become who and what I am today.”

Skillern spent a majority of her adult life as a junior high history and English teacher before deciding to return to graduate school. “When I was in college in the 1960s, many women didn’t go to law school,” Skillern said. “I’d always been fascinated by lawyers [though] so I decided to [go to law school and] begin my second career. I was up for the intellectual challenge it posed.”

Then thirty-something years old, she did have her concerns about the age gap between her and the other law students. However, she found the transition easier than expected as many of her classmates were kind and accepting of her choice to return to school as a student for the first time in almost two decades.

Skillern’s dedication to her new path paid off. Shortly after graduating from Northwestern School of Law, Skillern began practicing in the area of insurance coverage at Bullivant Houser Bailey’s Portland, Oregon office, where she advised insurance companies on coverage determinations and claim handling, and represented them in lawsuits to resolve coverage issues and bad faith claims.

These days, Skillern rarely practices law as she has spent the majority of the last four years acting as the firm’s general counsel and, seven months ago, was given the additional role of firm president. “I obviously began as a lawyer later in life and the way things have unfolded has even surprised me,” Skillern said. “It’s a privilege that my experience has been in a law firm and in a legal community that is accepting of women.”

She added, “Frankly, sometimes women don’t know what they want to do. That’s how I felt when I decided to leave my job as a teacher and go back to school. It really is true that if you set out to do something and you’re determined, you can accomplish anything.”

Looking back, Skillern doesn’t recall struggling too terribly when trying to raise her two daughters, work, and attend law school, but she thinks that time has a way of dulling the pain. “It was twenty-five years ago and I’m sure I had my struggles; I’m reminded of them when I look at my younger colleagues. You can’t have it all—it’s impossible. There were times when my family came first and other times when my family was operating just fine without me. You just have to understand that one aspect of your life will always overwhelm the others and have faith that it will balance out eventually,” Skillern said.

Skillern’s duties as firm president and general counsel, along with her involvement with Bullivant Houser Bailey’s diversity committee, fill up her work days. She spends her off-time with her grandchildren, works out with the same women she has power-walked with for twenty-five years, or finds the time to discuss the latest bestseller with her book club of fifteen years.

And while there is no immediate plan to change her job or career course, there’s no saying for sure. “I’m not sure I know what my future holds,” Skillern said. “I’m happy with where I am today. I may consider retirement, but I just began this new phase as firm president. Maybe the next five years will present me with yet another phase, who knows?”