Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP is pleased to announce that Michelle Browning Coughlin is this year’s recipient of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Nathaniel R. Harper Award. The award recognizes individuals or organizations that demonstrate a commitment to promoting full and equal participation in the legal profession through the encouragement and inclusion of women, minorities, persons with disabilities, members of the LGBT community and other underrepresented groups. Nathaniel R. Harper was one of the first African Americans to be admitted to the practice of law in Kentucky. He established the Harper Law School in his law office and trained several African American lawyers at a time in our history when African Americans were excluded from law schools in Kentucky. The award honors Harper’s pioneering spirit and sense of responsibility to pave the way for others.

Ms. Coughlin concentrates her practice in the areas of trademark and copyright transactional work; trademark strategy, clearance, prosecution and enforcement and the management of multi-national trademark portfolios. Ms. Coughlin also advises clients regarding privacy and data security issues, including HIPAA, cloud-computing, FTC and compliance issues relating to the collection of information through websites and mobile applications, and with drafting privacy notices and terms of use. She is the Chair of the Firm’s Wyatt Women’s Network. Ms. Coughlin also founded MothersEsquire, a national bar association with more than 2,300 members, dedicated to increasing retention and promotion rates of women lawyers, particularly mothers, and supporting all lawyers who are parents or caregivers. She serves on the Diversity & Inclusion Committee and as the Communications Committee Vice Chair for the National Conference of Bar Presidents of the American Bar Association and on the KBA Diversity in the Profession Committee.