Starting my career with the Kentucky Court of Appeals has opened a wellspring of experiences, not the least of which has been getting involved with the Northern Kentucky Bar Association and legal community. As a new female attorney, I have been impressed with the long line of remarkable women attorneys who have furthered the court in these very chambers, and the continued impact that has had on the legal field.
It has been 37 years since my boss, Judge Susanne Cetrulo, first entered these chamber doors and got to work drafting opinions for the Kentucky Court of Appeals. She was a recent graduate of Chase College of Law and was ready to contribute to the legal community she had spent years learning about. What she found was a tight-knit community full of inspiring, hardworking attorneys. And she, like me, was fortunate enough to begin her career with one such incredible female mentor and pioneer for women lawyers in Kentucky.
For her, it was Judge Judy West (and for me, of course, it is her). Judge West was the first woman Court of Appeals Judge in Kentucky, and she broke numerous barriers in her time with the Court. When I walked into those same chambers last year, following Judge Cetrulo’s footsteps—who had followed Judge West’s footsteps before her — I couldn’t help but recognize how things had come full circle on multiple levels. But, watching Judge Cetrulo start her career as a judicial staff attorney and ending it as a Court of Appeals Judge in the same chambers, was not the only thing that I saw come full circle. And I am confident it will not be the last.
In 1991, upon Judge West’s passing, Judge Cetrulo gave many speeches and wrote several articles sharing Judge West’s contributions to the community and the Commonwealth. Reflecting on her experiences, Judge Cetrulo recounted many of Judge West’s stories and lessons learned.
For example, how judicial robes did not come in women’s sizes when Judge West was first appointed to the Court.
Judge Cetrulo even kept a file of some of Judge West’s speeches, because they had such a close bond and she enjoyed saving and re-reading her writings. She still has that file today. Recently, she pulled that file out to share with me and my fellow staff attorney, Rachel Stephens. And now, all these years later, another of Judge West’s stories hits even closer to home.
Judge West often spoke of a colleague of hers who had a daughter. The daughter wanted to be just like her dad when she grew up, i.e., a judge. When this little girl told her third-grade class of these aspirations, they giggled. “Girls cannot be judges,” after all. Her father knew well, however, that that was not the case. In fact, he knew an incredibly charismatic and brilliant judge who was making history as a woman judge in the Commonwealth, and he shared Judge West’s story with his daughter.
The next day, that little girl ran into her classroom clutching a photo of Judge West, ready to set the record straight. And she did.
That little girl kept those aspirations throughout the years, exploring the trails that those like Judge West had paved before her, and like so many of us, she set off on the path to Chase College of Law. Not so different from Judge Cetrulo, she graduated with the desire to fold herself into the local legal community. Now, Rachel is working for Judge Cetrulo. Her dad, Doug Stephens, was a Judge in Kenton County for 32 years and a dear friend to Judge West.
As you might imagine, it was a rather emotional moment for us when Judge Cetrulo found this article referencing a little girl who is now her own staff attorney.
As Judge Cetrulo sits in the seat of her mentor and my colleague’s hero, Judge West, it is abundantly clear to me that there is no shortage of people, and especially women attorneys, who are forever changed by the light she shined on this path. I have seen it in the path Judge West forged for Judge Cetrulo, who is now forging the path for me and my colleague. I see it in the many women Judges we now have in the Commonwealth and in the many successful women practitioners from whom I hope to learn.
With any luck, this circle will not end but will continue to circle back, each pioneer passing the torch to those following behind them. I look forward to the day when I, too, will look back at these days and be reminded of the work it took to get here and the path we have inevitably forged for the daughters who come after us.
Kati Massey is a Staff Attorney for Judge Susanne Cetrulo of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. After graduating from Chase College of Law in 2020, she began her legal career as a Corporate Associate at Thompson Hine in Cincinnati. She serves on the NKBA Gateway Committee and CBA Membership Committee.