Carving a path as lawyer and governor's wife

The wife of incoming Governor Deval L. Patrick said yesterday that she wants to focus public attention on early childhood education and domestic violence, while also keeping her busy schedule as a lawyer in a top Boston law firm.

Diane Patrick, 54, said she wants to be more prominent publicly than previous spouses of governors. She said she is a frequent adviser to her husband of 22 years, who won election Tuesday.

"I've never been shy about telling Deval my views," she added with a laugh. "I think he expects to hear them, but I don't expect they will carry the day."

In a telephone interview on a busy first day after the election, Patrick said she studied early childhood education in college, "so I recognize the importance of an early start."

She also has spoken publicly about the fear of violence she felt in her stormy first marriage, and she said yesterday that her own experience made her want to work on domestic violence awareness.

"I think that in recent years, particularly, domestic violence has lost a lot of important visibility and support," she said. "If I can do anything to give more prominence to the issues and to the solutions there, that's what I would like to do."

Patrick said she is not certain what people expect of her as the next governor's spouse -- and it feels a bit surreal to be called that, she said.

"I almost feel like I should go out and try to find a book, 'First Ladies for Dummies,' " she said. "The people I've asked who seem to have some sense of it say, 'Look, this is something you have to figure out on your own with Deval.' "

Patrick spent yesterday morning shuttling her daughters, ages 17 and 20, to the airport and the train station so they could get back to school. Her younger daughter, Katherine, attends St. Andrew's School in Delaware, and her older daughter, Sarah, goes to New York University.

After dropping off her daughters, Patrick said, she began answering the massive volume of calls and e-mails from well-wishers from across the country. Next she hopped on a two-hour conference call with her clients at Ropes & Gray. When she hung up, the doorbell kept ringing with more deliveries of flowers and balloons.

"It is an interesting metaphor for how I have been and hope to continue to balance the life we have," she said yesterday.

Patrick is a partner in the labor and employment department of Ropes & Gray. The firm lists state and quasi-public state authorities among its clients for bond counsel work. During the campaign, Richard Chacon, spokesman for Deval L. Patrick's campaign, said the candidate would seek advice from the ethics commission to avoid conflicts of interest if Patrick were elected, and yesterday Diane Patrick said much the same.

"I have worked within my own firm to develop a process for dealing with potential conflicts of interest, and we will deal with those on a case-by-case basis . . . Deval on his end would work with the state Ethics Commission to determine whether there are any conflicts or any appearance of conflicts, and we would avoid any conflicts as appropriate," she said. "Right now, we don't anticipate any."

Carol Hardy-Fanta , director of the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston , said Diane Patrick fits the new model for political spouses -- she is half of a high-achieving couple who support each other's careers.

"There isn't such a need for social hostesses for governors anymore," she said. "What you need is people who can inspire and be partners with elected-official spouses -- whatever gender they are. One would never expect a woman governor's husband to stop working and greet people at the door."

Yesterday, Ann Romney, wife of Governor Mitt Romney, said Patrick's life may not change dramatically. Ann Romney has focused public attention on multiple sclerosis and faith-based initiatives.

"It doesn't need to change your life at all," Ann Romney said yesterday. "I think it's an opportunity for service and an opportunity to see people of all walks of life from across the Commonwealth. . . . It's an enriching part of your life, and she'll treasure it forever."

"I'd love to chat with her; I'll give her my own personal advice," she said with a laugh, "but not through the papers."

Diane Patrick played a prominent role on the campaign trail by speaking as Deval L. Patrick's surrogate across the state. Warm and engaging, she has been a favorite of Patrick supporters on the campaign trail. Her husband often joked that the more she campaigned on his behalf, the more his supporters began to ask: "Why that guy? Why not her?"

She also seemed to ground him, appearing with him at the most critical speeches and heated debates. The night before the election, she joined Patrick for a homecoming rally at the Milton Hoosic Club near their home.

"If there is one person who could have and would have beat Deval Patrick in this election it is Diane Bemus Patrick," said state Senator Brian A. Joyce , a Milton neighbor and supporter. The place erupted in whistles and cheers -- including her husband's.

Diane Patrick said she feels "incredibly proud" of the campaign her husband ran, resisting pressure to attack his Republican opponent, Kerry Healey, after she came after him with attack ads. She is glad the campaign is over, but she grew solemn when she considered what lies ahead.

"Now, I think the tremendous responsibility that has been placed in his hands to deliver -- it's an awesome responsibility," she said. "There's a lot of hard work ahead. But you know, he's always been up to the challenge, and he will be again."

Scott Helman of the Globe staff contributed to this story.