Personal Injury Lawyer and Managing Partner of Pincus & Lespron, PLC
Are you familiar with the catchy track “Short Skirt / Long Jacket” by Cake that was released all the way back in 2001?
When I see Michelle enter a room, I desperately want this song to be the soundtrack that plays loudly in perfect synchronization with her footsteps. If she were in the music video directed and styled by me, I’d have her wearing stilettos and in her hands she’d be bouncing a riding crop.
Following are the first two verses, which fit Michelle’s personality to a T. Oh, and by the way, she’s Ms. Lespron to you.
I want a girl with a mind like a diamond
I want a girl who knows what’s best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes
I want a girl with the right allocations
Who’s fast and thorough and sharp as a tack
She’s playing with her jewelry, she’s putting up her hair
She’s touring the facility and picking up slack
I want a girl with a short skirt and long jacket.
I want a girl who gets up early
I want a girl who stays up late
I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity
Who uses a machete to cut through red tape
With fingernails that shine like justice
And a voice that is dark like tinted glass
She is fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack
She is touring the facility and picking up slack.
I want a girl with a short skirt and a long jacket.
–Music and Lyrics by John McCrea
The lyrics are especially apropos when you learn that Michelle is a managing partner with Pincus and Lespron, PLC, a personal injury law firm. Since 1999, Michelle’s specialty is exclusively handling wrongful death and traumatic injury cases. As the song suggests, Michelle has plenty of experience with uninterrupted prosperity, cutting through red tape, and she is indeed fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack. If you need justice, she’s the one to hire. She’ll fight for you, and she just might wear a short skirt and long jacket to court because it fits her style.
The love of Michelle’s life is her nine-year-old daughter, Joy. Being a mom brings out Michelle's playful and self-proclaimed “goofy” side. Mother and daughter like to go on adventures together and Michelle can’t wait until the two of them can hike to Havasupai, which Michelle identifies as a piece of heaven here on earth. But in the meantime, a beach vacation will do nicely. Since Joy’s birth, Michelle has kept a journal, appropriately titled The Joy Journal, where she records her daughter’s milestones and fun bits of information that she wants to be sure to remember and share with her daughter as a legacy keepsake of their time together.
When I asked Michelle to tell me something that most people may not know about her, she laughed and said, “I don’t think there’s anything friends don’t know about me. I tend to overshare. I’m an open book.” A fun tidbit for the few who are not in the know is that Michelle was a University of Arizona Wildcat cheerleader for the men's football and basketball teams. Michelle cheered for seven years while she completed both her undergraduate and her law school curricula.
If Michelle could have one superpower, she would like the ability to fly. In real life, her superpower is the skill of mediation, but after another few seconds of thought she somewhat reluctantly said that her sense of smell is extraordinary. She’s very sensitive to perfumes and can get overwhelmed by scents. There was also that time she was hiking with two friends. Michelle was hungry and she smelled a banana. Her friends were insistent that there were no bananas in their packs. Michelle said it was driving her nuts and that she was sure there was a banana in their midst, but her friends once again assured her it wasn’t so. Lo and behold, when they arrived at the destination in an isolated area, there was a trash can…and when they lifted the lid, there were banana peels. Coincidence? She thinks not. It was just one example of many that she could give as evidence to substantiating her mighty olfactory.
Michelle’s dad is helping her renovate a fixer-upper home she purchased that has floor to ceiling jaw dropping views of the Catalina mountains. She said, “Name something in this house and I guarantee you I have had it repaired or demoed and rebuilt. I am both enjoying it and it’s driving me crazy.” Put the emphasis on crazy as the prices for materials continued to increase during the pandemic. All things considered, it was a good move, and Michelle says it’s nice living close to her dad once again.
While Michelle is busy with “all the things,” she would like to make room for a romantic relationship. She has a loyal tribe of girlfriends that she has a blast with and everyone, including me, is keeping their eyes peeled for a potential matchmaker scenario. In the meantime, Michelle’s life is full and blessed. As a wise woman, she knows that the second half of life will certainly prove to be her best years as she continues to live, learn, and grow, moving steadily forward with a grateful heart.
Testimonial:
My very favorite part of the overall photography experience with Michelle was the reveal session. I could not stop my jaw dropping every time I saw another photo. ‘That one is my favorite. No, that one’s my favorite. Never mind, all of them are my favorites.’ The reveal made me realize that I need to be photographed more often because it had been ages since I had been photographed. I’m the photographer in my circle and when I look back, I discover that I don’t have photographs of myself, and more importantly, photographs of me with my daughter. It was an emotional realization during the reveal session that I need to be professionally photographed more often—way more often, like on a yearly basis. Photographs are irreplaceable. You can’t recreate a photograph. It’s a moment in time that won’t exist again. –Michelle Lespron
Read more about Michelle, and see additional portraits from her photoshoot, upon the release of the Wise Women: The 50 over 50 Magazine later this year.
You are invited to attend the Wise Women Portrait Gala on Thursday, October 13th at the Savoy Opera House in Tucson, Arizona from 5-9 p.m. Parking is plentiful and free and there will indoor and outdoor seating. Each participant will be featured in a creative portrait on display in the art exhibit. Buffet dinner, no-host bar, music, dancing, magic and a raffle will be part of the evening's festivities celebrating these fabulous women. Purchase tickets here on Eventbrite.
Studio Strobe and Natural Light | Hand painted backdrop by Michelle Beaumont Owens
Professional hair and makeup by Erika Christine Aguirre.
Location: Tucson, Arizona.