Work-life balance often feels elusive for women navigating demanding legal careers and motherhood, but Christy Crase proves it’s possible to build both with grace and intention. As Chief Legal Officer for Professional Case Management and PCM Trials, Christy reflects on her early years in M&A law, the challenges of raising two daughters while building her career, and the lessons she’s learned about letting go of perfection. She shares how motherhood reshaped her perspective, deepened her empathy as a leader, and reminded her that success doesn’t mean doing it all at once. For every lawyer-mom striving to find her footing, Christy’s story is both grounding and empowering.
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Redefining Work-Life Balance As A Lawyer And Mom With Christy Crase
Juggling Law & Motherhood: The Origin Story
Christy, I’m so excited to connect with you. I would formally introduce that we’re joined by a General Counsel superstar and outstanding mama, Christy Crase. She serves as the Chief Legal Officer for Professional Case Management and PCM Trials. She’s also an incredible mother of two young women who are thriving in their own right. She’s on the other side of a lot of this, so she has a lot of perspective to bring to those of us who are still in the thick of the season.
I am really excited for you to share your story with us and your insights. You over the last, I think it’s been almost ten years that we’ve had the chance to work together. I’ve been able to witness you really both as an incredible attorney and as an amazing mama. I’m so happy for others to really hear from you. I really want to kick off our conversation about your legal journey. Of course, letting us know when the children like arrived on the scene and what that was like.
When I was practicing and when they arrived, is that what you were talking about? I need to start with, if you will, later, we waited for nine years before we had our first child after being married. I had gone to law school while I was married and was already moving along. I was practicing at that time at a major law firm in Dallas and doing M&A work. I still remember my very first. I hadn’t told anyone yet, I was expecting, and one of the senior associates, whom I was very close to, and we were at the printer all night.
I’m running off every once in a while and getting sick, and having to go take a nap. Finally, she looked at me and said, “What’s going on?” It was when they arrived, it was like when I was a brand new associate trying to make my name as an M&A lawyer. It was a lot just trying to practice to avoid an injury. All practices are in their own way, but at that point in time, it was really busy because we had to be there all the time.
The overnighters were a real thing. I can imagine.
I’m waiting for the fax at 2:00 in the morning, and my husband’s calling the senior associate, “Send her home.” I’m like, “I’m going to get fired.” I did not get fired.
How did you work through that? Obviously, like once you have children, you’re already up, all up as well. How did that fold into doing M&A transactions as a young mom?
I ended up leaving not because of that, but because when we finally had children, we wanted to be closer to family. The firm that I was with didn’t have an office in Denver, which is where I’m located and where my family is. It was one of those things that they came similar time. I don’t think it was because of that, but I ended up leaving and going to another mid-size, large regional firm. It was a different practice, but still pretty intense. I think those first years were a little bumpy, but it was, like you said, the whole balancing of doing work, putting it down, picking it up later after they’re in bed, doing things on the weekend when they’re napping, just finding whatever time you can find. That was how those first couple of years went.
One of the things I love that you shared in the past is that we have such an intense lawyer environment, and then actually having children brought more balance into your life, which really resonated with me. I just would love you to share a little more about what that was like or what that meant.
Motherhood’s Unexpected Gift: Finding Balance In A Legal Career
What I meant by that was, we all go to law school, and I think people who do that have a lot of ambition. You get so into your trade and your craft, and you are working so hard to make things, especially when you’re a young lawyer working in a law firm, you’re trying to make everything just so and handing it over to the partner and not getting any red lines back and everything. You’re just like so into it.
I quickly realized that I could have allowed my life to become all consumed with that, because there’s a certain, at least for my personality type, maybe not all. For me, I’m words of affirmation, a feedback person, and the better you do, the more feedback and good praise you get, and that can become what you want more. For me, having children made me step back. It made me realize there’s a lot more out there.
There are a lot of things in life that I think I was missing. The other thing it did was it brought a little bit of gentleness, more compassion. I felt like I was probably a better advocate and a better listener to clients. Just a lot of those skills that you need for a mom, because you have to step back. I realized were really important in my legal career.
Especially as I got older, I started mentoring other lawyers or started having other lawyers work for me and with me. It was like, “I need to really stop and listen to what they’re saying.” With kids, they may be screaming, you don’t know what they’re really wanting, but when you really listen, you do know. You fair it out what they want. That’s what I mean by balance was that it brought this whole other world to me that I could have easily let pass by.
The things I love about that are that a lot of times I’ve heard other moms who are lawyers share that their job being a lawyer gave them skills that helped contribute to the mom they are. What I love about your sharing is that being a mom, yes, helped you be better at your job, which is a really excellent way to frame the benefits. It can be both ways. It can be beneficial either way. Great point.
The funny thing about also when you shared, I feel like, yes, as a lawyer in our job, there is some immediate gratification from what we do. I feel like being a mom is the longest-term gratification project available. I feel like you definitely are at a place where you’re seeing more wins. I’d love it if you’re open to sharing about some of the rewarding parts now that your children are grown and how you’re able to see the benefits of all your hard work.
The Sweet Rewards: When Adult Children Seek Your Wisdom
It’s funny. No matter how old you are, you still have the mom pangs, for one daughter of mine is 26, the other is 22. It’s like, there are things you feel like you’re still involved in, but you’re right. At this point, with them out of the house and moving on. Some of the more gratifying things are when they go through those teenage years, it’s like, you know, nothing, basically.
As a parent, you know nothing, and they’re very clear to let you know nothing. I think that what I see now, that’s so gratifying, is the phone calls. “Mom, I forwarded this message to everybody in the company. What do I do?” or “Mom, this client was unhappy with this. What do I do?” or “What does this mean when they intersect business and legal terms, and you can walk them through it?”
As a parent, you know nothing, and your kids are very clear to let you know nothing. Share on XAlso in the conversations and the real maturity that you see, you really realize what amazing humans they’ve become and the different viewpoints that they may have, but some of the similar ones, and how they resonate. I think that’s really the part is you become. I know that they see you much more as, “I realize she was doing all of these things while she was also raising us, and there’s a new-formed appreciation.” Not that again, you have to have that, but I think it is.
From someone who’s like, “I’m on the verge of the teenage years and I already know I know that thing.” I’ve been schooled on that very clearly. We’re not doing it for the appreciation, but if there’s a remote possibility that there’s even a little bit coming, I think it will help sustain the journey. Now that you’re in this place, looking back to what that teen period was like, would you give yourself any advice about how to muscle through it or navigate it with a little more peace and calm for you as a mom?
I will have to say I was very fortunate, and I have two girls. A lot of times, it tends to be the moms that collide with the moms. I didn’t have as much of that for whatever reason. I attribute a lot of that to my husband, but keeping that communication really open. I think the advice I would probably or what if I had to do anything different looking back, is not beating myself up as much.
That “I didn’t do this right. I didn’t do that right.” There are so many different paths to what’s right. It would be going back and thinking about, “Just maybe something didn’t work out.” Again, stepping back and you learn it again with like young associates or people you’re working with, like, let them figure all of that out first. It’s so much harder to do when it’s with matters of the heart.
I think we’re taught at times to be problem solvers. Maybe that’s one as well that I would really think about doing differently is not trying to always, when they come to me with here’s the problem, you’re trying to solve, but immediately just sitting back and being much more of a counselor side or listening side, and just an empathetic side, probably would have served me well.
We don’t need to beat ourselves up for not doing things ‘right,’ because there are so many different paths to what’s right. Share on XI’ll give it a go. I’m open to any advice on that. The other thing I wanted to ask you is, in a crisis situation, not that I’m suggesting that motherhood is a crisis, but there are seasons within it when it’s really hard. I think we all have that moment when we broke down and weren’t really sure how we were going to navigate to the other side. One of the things that you even mentioned is that I always look for the helpers. Moving to Colorado to be surrounded by family, how did that change the dynamic for you, and how did you manage that? That also comes with some unique opportunities and some challenges as well.
How did I manage weaving your crises, is what you’re saying?
Taking the help. I think a lot of us like to do things our way, but going towards family and getting help from family can be amazing, but it’s also a unique experience in different ways.
Embracing The “Helpers”: Family Support In Motherhood’s Toughest Seasons
That’s such an interesting one because I had to accept it more. I was very fortunate. My husband was very involved with the kids, but I did have to let go and allow him to do things. They were very different. I think back on this crazy little story about it. It was driving me crazy that all the toys were not put away, and then we had to clean them out. They had grown past all of these things. My way of doing it was going through everything and carefully talking about it with the children. Like, “What do you want? What should we keep? Can we put this here? Can we get rid of this?”
He was like, when they’re asleep, you go up with a big trash bag and clean it up. I just had to let that go because two days later I walked upstairs and guess what? The cabinet’s clean and it’s fantastic. The difference, just letting that go. I don’t know how you really can do that except for the fact that, in those times, you just have to realize they’re going to be done differently, and it’s going to be okay. It’s good for them to see different ways to do things.
Anxious mommy is not a good mommy. Share on XThat’s so healthy. I think especially with your spouse, like managing that there’s such a difference. I think a lot of female attorneys, married men that come with a lot of different skill sets, like me, who’s a first grade teacher, who live in very different worlds and approach things in incredibly different ways and letting go of your own way and really to get out of your own way, and let them lead differently is probably one of the biggest challenges of being married to me and parenting with me. I think that’s an incredible gift to overcome that and lead.
I think when it finally hit for me was when you are trying to do everything all the time, and it was like, I remember my mom would always say, “Don’t try to be superwoman.” I would resent that like, “I can do this all.” What I realized through time was that I can, but maybe not all at the same time. If I look back over my career over 25 years, it’s like, “I have done all of those things. It was just not all at the same time.” Really realizing when I needed to ask for help and get help and being okay with that, because what I realized was anxious mommy is not a good mommy.
Frustrated mommy is not good frustrated is not good mommy. Kids are mirrors, and they would pick it up. There was a whole time when one of my daughters was just getting stomach pains. We’re just like gripping, and we were taking her to the hospital. Finally, I realized that’s exactly what’s going on with me. She’s mimicking in a lot of ways. My being up here was putting her up here. I had to take care of myself and allow myself to ask for help and bring myself down. What do you know?
That changes lives. What you just shared. It really does because our kids are imprinting on our energy, and they’re watching us with such hot guys. We’re so busy sometimes doing the doing. I’ll never forget someone asking my son if he was going to be a lawyer, and he turned to her and said, “She does not make it look fun.” I was like, “I love my job. I would want you to have such a fulfilling career, and I’m probably not making it look that fun.” It made me more conscientious of like bringing myself down, bringing in the calm. They could also be there, but it’s a very intentional process for people who are already busy. What things do you do to help keep you calm?
Cultivating Calm: Strategies For Busy Lawyer Moms
A couple of things. One, I have always been a workout holic. Even during my career, when I had to be up at 5:00 or 5:30, it was horrendous. I don’t do it now because I want more sleep, and I don’t have to. I can do it at different times. It was like, I had to do it because if I went 2 to 3 days without it, then I would tear someone’s eyeballs out. Again, it would mirror me. My eyeballs would get lost. The other things are just spending a lot of time thinking a lot more of, “I’m such a doer, and I had to learn to think and really plan because when I would just dive in and do.”
I would end up trying to think through it as I was doing it and wasting a lot of energy. I had to do some of that, and let’s be honest, talking with other people and figuring out how they’ve done it, and some career coaching, all of those things have all helped together, and just getting to know yourself really better than anything is what your triggers are. If you learn those and work on those pieces, or as I’ve had to, it’s a work in progress. Let’s be honest.
It’s amazing resources, and to know that in knowing myself and what keeps you calm and keeps you happy is like, yeah. Really taking the time to even figure it out. Even a five-minute journal activity in the morning changes the whole day. It seems so silly, but it is also very powerful and sets that intention. I’ve been journaling, saying, “Don’t let anybody irritate you.” Just writing it down can sometimes facilitate a better attitude.
It’s an important tool. What would you say is the greatest surprise or I went into motherhood with some beliefs about how it would look and what it would be like. I had a lot of siblings who would detest my unsolicited parenting advice before I had children. I’ve definitely been proven wrong in what I thought was the way to go. Do you have any long-held beliefs that really were dispelled by having kids and being a mom and trying to figure all this out?
That one’s hard. I had to really step back and think about this. As a young lawyer, I never really wanted kids, to be honest. Let’s put it out there. Part of it was because I had this belief, whether it came from not having any role models who had done both a career and raising kids, or it came from my own, about how much I poured into my career. It was 100%. How am I going to pour another hundred percent into a family?
My expectations of myself and what I was going to do. I always thought my husband was so cute. He would be like, “All you really have to do is love them.” I’m like, “That is so naive. Are you serious?” I’m like, “I am going to screw this up. If I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to do this.” Again, we’ve talked about it all the way through this. It’s that letting go, just being, it wasn’t how much I always did for my kids that they remember.
All you really have to do is love your children. Share on XThey don’t remember whether I was at everything or not. In fact, if asked, they’ll be like, “No, mom was probably working. She probably wasn’t there.” It was more like, when I get a Mother’s Day card, it was for always being there, or listening, or helping them through big decisions. It was more just the being and the support. I think that belief I no longer think is at all naive. I think it is beautiful and fabulous. I’m like, “He wasn’t right.” They felt, they knew that they were loved.
That was the most important thing was that even though there were times when I thought they saw when you’re torn and when you would really do an effort to make it, even if you made it to the last heat of the last race day or whatever, they saw you trying to get there and were there to celebrate. I think it was that whole piece that was a little shocking to me, was I felt like it was much more about all the things I could check off and that I didn’t. That was completely not what was important. They know I love them, and that was important.
That is amazing because I think that I struggle to let that guilt go. All you’re doing is. Like right now, like in the thick of all of the activities and the things, and not to put pressure on ourselves to make it to everything. I grew up in an era where my parents did not come to our practices, and we are living in an era where parents go sit at their kids’ practices. If you can do that and that brings you joy, I just cannot do that.
I have to utilize that time differently. Sometimes you catch yourself feeling bad about that. You are being present enough. I think even what you shared about your children calling you for advice and you are a trusted advisor, and knowing that they’re loved is like the endgame. That’s what we’re trying to get out of this is to be that resource for them that they know loves them fully. I think it’s so incredible that you can sit here knowing that and letting go of racing into events in your heels and suits, sweating, trying to make it, because I’m sure you did that. I’ve done that before.
That’s incredible. That’s incredible. We did sub in the title of this show as Mothers in Law. I am asking the question because I definitely learned a lot from my mother-in-law. The in-law relationship is such an important one, really, to your family to navigate. Especially with being attorneys and having certain expectations about different relationships, I would just be curious if you’d care to share any tips or your experience with your in-laws that helped you feel supported, and or gave you opportunities for growth in this experience.
My mother-in-law was amazing. I credit her a lot for my husband’s attitude towards this is a two-part thing. She worked all while he was growing up. Maybe not as much for the same reason that I did. For her, I think it was an economic reality. For me, it was I was really blessed. It was more of a choice that I wanted to because I had this deep desire to do something that I enjoyed.
Give it a year. Go through all the different seasons. Figure it out. Share on XHis mother was very ambitious as well. I remember she was the union steward, and she held things together for the finance committee for this program and that program. She understood the duality and the ambitious side of me. I credit her a lot for that and never put as much pressure. We’ve talked a little bit about this, but my father-in-law was the opposite. It’s very old school.
He would always tell my husband, like, “She’s working way too hard. She shouldn’t be doing that. You shouldn’t make her read to the kids every night because then they’re going to start expecting it.” My husband and I would look at each other like, “God, we want them to learn to expect them to enjoy reading with us.” It was just a different era. It was so sweet.
It was more his concern for me than anything. As I said, my mother-in-law didn’t live near us. I didn’t have her around all the time. We were very different, but she gave me my space. I think the only time she ever mentioned something was that she preferred a different name than the one I gave my daughter. That’s the only thing I have never heard about parenting styles or skills. I can live with that.
The Mother-In-Law Dynamic: Support & Growth
My mom did that for me as well. Don’t tell anyone the names of the children. Even just to surprise everybody. That’s a free tip. That’s so excellent. I am just so grateful that you were willing to share with us. Is there anything else you feel like you want to make sure that young moms know as they’re venturing on this incredible journey?
They’re not alone. That, and give it time. The biggest thing is that I have a team of all women, and we’re all at different stages with our kids in our careers. The biggest thing that I always tell, especially new mothers-in-law, is give it a year, go through all the different seasons. Figure it out. There’s going to be times when you’re the wheels are falling off the bus. You’re overwhelmed. You don’t feel like you’re doing anything right.
There are other times when you feel like you are rocking it. It’s like, “I got that.” You’ve got to go through all the seasons, I think. You’re not allowed to reach out and talk to other moms. It is helpful. Whether or not you decide that their advice is the best for you or not, you still learn about other different ways to do things and maybe try them out. Maybe they work, maybe they don’t.
I feel very lucky that you’ve been on my journey and have helped me out in a way as well. Thank you so much. This has been such a fun conversation and so many important nuggets that you shared that really are encouraging and inspiring.
I have learned a lot from you as well, Carrie. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining The Mothers in Law. It’s been fun. Thank you.
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About Christy Crase
With over two decades of navigating high-stakes deals and complex corporate puzzles, Christy Crase has pretty much seen it all — from multi-million-dollar mergers to healthcare contracts that span continents and is currently putting all her amazing experience to work as she serves as the Chief Legal Officer of Professional Case Management & PCM Trials.
Over the span of her career – Christy has worked across the industry and continents from global medical manufacturers to emerging startups and has a knack for helping leaders make smart, ethical, and strategic decisions.
Fluent in Spanish and deeply experienced across Latin America and Canada, she brings both cultural fluency and boardroom savvy to the table. Beyond her corporate credentials, Christy has served on multiple nonprofit boards, including the DPS Foundation, and is passionate about purpose-driven leadership.
When she’s not helping companies thrive, you’ll probably find her mentoring young professionals, building community, or enjoying time with her husband and two amazing daughters.
