When Lisa Faccadio was starting out as a 20-something lawyer nearly 50 years ago in Middlesex County, times were certainly different. Female attorneys — at the time there were no others in Middletown — were required to wear heels and a suit in court. Outside of case work, they had to be in the office. Getting ahead, up to this point, had been a man’s game.

Skip ahead three decades and by the mid-2000s, Faccadio had become one of the state’s best-known family law providers; a pioneering force with a bustling practice, routinely asked for by name. During this period, she met a young Kristen Marcroft, who was then a server at Hartford’s Max Downtown. Faccadio and her wife, Frances Evans, would frequent the restaurant for dinner and get-togethers.