10 QUESTIONS WITH

MAHA KAMAL

DBA Member Since 2010

1. Where did you go to Law School?

DU Law School, Class of 2013

2. Where do you work?

My firm, Colorado Family Law Project (since 2016)

3. Why did you become a lawyer?

I wanted to prosecute war criminals at The Hague. My background is in global affairs and international law. I did work at the UN my last year of law school (at the Lebanon Tribunal) and technically assisted with prosecution of international criminals, but somehow meandered back to Colorado and ended up in family law. And truth be told, there are days I’d rather be prosecuting war criminals than breaking up a fight over a broken KitchenAid blender in open court.

4. How do you de-stress?

I work out every other day, take weekends off, and set firm boundaries with clients and others about my availability (like, no, I’m not available after 5 PM, if the court’s closed, I am closed). I also love to travel and on average take about 3-4 international trips a year.

And I recently remodeled the backyard shed into an art studio (modeled after Frida Kahlo’s house, Casa Azul, in Mexico City). I spend weekends immersed in creative projects. I’m not just a lawyer—I have many other roles and alter egos.

5. What is your favorite book or movie?

This is a tough one. I’m reading “A Table for One” by Yun Ko-Eun, and I’m obsessed with Korean fiction. This compilation contains eccentric, delightful, Wes Anderson-esque short stories that I can’t put down.

I don’t have one favorite movie, but it’s either “Frida” or “Waking Life”. Or maybe the book I just published (“Colorado Family Law: A Trail Guide”), because it’s helpful and easy and kind of funny. (Wink.)

6. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would you choose and why?

I’d love to sit down with either Ruttie Jinnah or Amrita Sher-Gill. Both were eccentric women who are little known in South Asian history. Ruttie was Muhammed Ali Jinnah’s wife (founder of Pakistan). But she was much younger, quirkier, and wrote fantastic and exciting letters to her girlfriends while she rose in the socialite ranks of Bombay and Paris in the 1930s. Amrita is sometimes dubbed the “Frida Kahlo” of the East; she was Hungarian-Indian painter, who created provoking and vibrant abstract pieces. She’s quoted saying, “I can only paint in India. Europe belongs to Picasso, Matisse, Braque…India belongs only to me.”

I think a glass of rose and some charcuterie would be all I need to hang out with these two!

7. What is one item on your bucket list?

I’d love to have one professional art exhibit in my lifetime. This week, I ordered paints, miniature brushes, and a special type of wasli paper to experiment with Mughal-style miniature painting from an 800-year-old business in Jaipur, India. I’d love to see where it goes and what pieces might come from it.

8. What has been one of your most memorable DBA experiences?

I love The Docket. I am thrilled it’s back. I used to create artwork and write all year, so I had some fresh new pieces to submit to its Arts & Literature Contest as a younger attorney. I hope you all bring that back.

9. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

“Treat the source, not the symptom.” – Rocky, my fellow server at the Olive Garden in undergrad who I am pretty sure was in a rock band and didn’t care for school. But his advice has stuck with me throughout the decades and applies to nearly every facet of life.