Francois ’99 Legally Protects Models as Renowned Agency's Sole Attorney

This article will appear in the Summer 2017 issue of Albany Law Magazine.

Marie Francois ’99 serves as general counsel for Ford Models, the renowned international modeling agency founded in 1946. Fortunately, her position does not require her to dress in haute couture each day at her office in Manhattan.

“I come to work in Uggs,” said Francois, a mother of twin toddler boys, who commutes one hour from her home on Long Island where she lives with her husband, Robert Brice. “What I love about Ford is that there’s no hypocrisy and they want you to dress how you feel comfortable. When I have an arbitration hearing, I’ll wear heels and something fancy, but otherwise it’s all about comfort.”

Francois appreciates a culture of acceptance that permeates the company. “It’s a judgment-free zone, where you can be as expressive as you like. That’s why I love Ford and I wish more companies were as supportive of diversity and authenticity,” she said.

Ford Models launched the careers of Christie Brinkley, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, Candice Bergen and many other celebrities.

Francois was born in Haiti. She emigrated from the Caribbean island with her parents in search of better opportunities when she was one year old. They settled in Brooklyn. Her father worked in a hospital laundry room and her mother was a nurse’s aide. Her parents stressed education. She and her siblings became first-generation college graduates.

“There was a lot of drug dealing and shootings in our neighborhood when I was growing up,” she said. “My parents made sure we did not fall victim to that.”

As a youngster, Francois liked to argue with her parents, who nicknamed her in Haitian Creole avoka enposib, or “impossible lawyer.” The name stuck and she began thinking about applying to law school after graduating from State University of New York at Brockport. At Albany Law, she was an editor for the Law Review and competed in senior prize trials. Her favorite teacher was the late Professor David Siegel. “He made Civil Procedure so much fun I couldn’t wait to get to class,” she said. “He made it interesting and his humor made me laugh.”

As a youngster, Francois liked to argue with her parents, who nicknamed her in Haitian Creole avoka enposib, or “impossible lawyer.”

A summer internship led to a job after graduation at Harter Secrest & Emery in Rochester, where she focused on corporate law. She later moved to Farrell Fritz, P.C., a law firm on Long Island. She became in-house counsel for a Long Island financial company that specialized in lending and she enjoyed handling leases and contracts. After the real estate bubble burst, she was downsized during the 2008 recession and she joined a subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation, where she worked from home and focused on corporate law for a technology giant. “I realized it didn’t matter what industry I worked in because I was becoming an expert at understanding contracts,” she said.

In 2012, she answered an ad for a general counsel at “an iconic fashion company.” She is the sole attorney for Ford Models and her primary responsibility is reviewing contracts for the 1,000 international models the firm represents. “We make sure nobody takes advantage of them,” Francois said. She also manages lawsuits, such as breach of contract cases. She also keeps busy writing cease and desist letters to individuals and online companies around the world that try fraudulently to capitalize on the Ford Models name.

Francois has grown accustomed to working among famous models. “It’s not unusual to walk past models from around the world waiting in the lobby for castings or to see one of them practicing their runway walk in the hall,” she said. “I don’t go to fashion shows anymore, though. I’m not focused on the glamour part now. My priority is to get home after work and hang out with my munchkins.”