For those who could not attend the April 6 program of the National Conference of Bar Presidents “21st Century Lawyers: Women Bar Leaders Forum,” you may now click here to view a recording of the program. To learn more about the program and the speakers, including our own NCWBA president, Shiloh Theberge, click here.
Reconnecting for Excellence: Annual Women’s Bar Leadership Summit, August 4-5
Our annual Women’s Bar Leadership Summit will be held in Chicago August 4 and 5, 2022.
The theme for this year’s Summit is “Reconnecting for Excellence” and our programming is designed to motivate women in leadership positions and connect them to the tools necessary for success!
Keynoting the event is Helen Wan, Attorney, DEI Consultant, and Author of The Partner Track which is currently being produced by Netflix! Ms. Wan realized the importance and need for a realistic account of a woman of color’s perspective of “trying to figure it all out.” She will share her knowledge and help us all Connect the Dots for Success!
In addition to Ms. Wan’s keynote address, the 2022 Summit will feature a GOOD Guys program (www.goodguysinlaw.org), programming on recruiting members, engaging membership and maximizing their potential, leadership tips, networking opportunities, and ways for member organizations to use the support that NCWBA provides.
See you in Chicago!
NCWBA Welcomes New Executive Director, Christina Simpson
We are pleased to welcome our new executive director, Christina Simpson! Christina is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts. Her current legal practice emphasizes small business and branding. She is an active member of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, where she co-chairs the Women of Color Committee. She is a graduate of Brooklyn Law School and received her undergraduate degree at Boston College.
NCWBA Seeks Executive Director
Long-time executive director Diane Rynerson will be retiring in 2019 which means we are now eager to identify the next executive director who will help us to grow and strengthen the organization in years to come. The position is part time, with flexible hours. Applications are currently being reviewed.
The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts Names Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy Recipient of Inaugural Outstanding Advocate Award
The Outstanding Advocate is awarded to an attorney who has gone above and beyond to fight for the rights of women and minority groups, and the people of the Commonwealth, and as such, has embodied the WBA’s mission in their advocacy.
The WBA is proud to recognize Attorney General Maura Healey with this award. AG Healey was honored at an anniversary party on March 8, 2018 at Goulston & Storrs. The anniversary party kicked off the celebration of the WBA’s 40th anniversary and the Women’s Bar Foundation’s (WBF) 25th anniversary.
AG Healey began serving as Massachusetts Attorney General in January 2015, after winning an historic victory in her first-ever run for office. Prior to her election, AG Healey helped lead the Attorney General’s Office as Chief of the Civil Rights Division and went on to become chief of the office’s Public Protection and Business & Labor Bureaus.
Since her election as Attorney General, she has focused on expanding economic opportunity by addressing rising energy and health care costs, tackling student loan debt, and ensuring fair treatment for workers and a level playing field for businesses. AG Healey has also gained national prominence for her leadership in combatting the state’s opioid epidemic, including expanding substance use prevention training for young people.
AG Healey has spent years leading the People’s Law Firm in the fight for fairness and equality, and expanding opportunities for women, vulnerable communities, and working families across Massachusetts. Most recently, AG Healey’s office issued new guidance with resources for employers as they prepare for the updated Massachusetts Equal Pay Act to go into effect this summer, providing greater clarity as to what constitutes gender-based wage discrimination, adding new protections for workers, and incentivizing employers to address gender-based pay disparities and achieve pay equity.
AG Healey has long been recognized as a leader by the Women’s Bar Association. She was a member of the Charter Class of the Women’s Leadership Initiative in 2009, where she was selected as an up and coming woman lawyer expected to achieve great things in her career. There is no doubt that she has served as a role model for the many lawyers in the organization who have since participated in the program and followed in her footsteps in making the Commonwealth safer and more just.
About the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts
Founded in 1978 by a group of activist women lawyers, the Women’s Bar Association boasts a vast membership of accomplished women lawyers, judges, and law students across Massachusetts. The WBA is committed to the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society. The WBA works to achieve this mission through committees and taskforces and by developing and promoting a legislative agenda to address society’s most critical social and legal issues. Other WBA activities include drafting amicus briefs, studying employment issues affecting women, encouraging women to enter the judiciary, recognizing the achievement of women in the law, and providing pro bono services to women in need through supporting its charitable sister organization, the Women’s Bar Foundation. For more information, visit www.womensbar.org.
NCWBA Urges Up or Down Vote on Judge Garland
The National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations has added its voice to those asking that the US Senate Judiciary Committee move ahead expeditiously to act on the nomination of Judge Garland to the Supreme Court. The letter can be read at the link below:
NCWBA – letter to Senate Judiciary Comm. re Judge Garland
With the nomination by President Obama of Judge Merrick Garland on March 16 to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, it is now left to the Senate Judiciary Committee to convene hearings on his qualifications and give him an up-or-down vote. It was made clear, even before the nomination of Judge Garland, by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others that no action on the nomination is planned. The partisan nature of the inaction has caused many state and local bar associations to shy away from public discussion of the matter. Yet lawyers are uniquely qualified to understand and explain the importance of separation of powers, constitutional duties and the barrier to the fair administration of justice posed by judicial vacancies. In this instance, silence can be viewed by the Senate and the public as consent by the legal community to the Senate’s inaction. As a women’s bar leader, what can or should you do?
As individuals, you can write to your own Senators, urging them to support an up-or-down vote on the nomination. Here is an e-mail form created by the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC). Or you may wish to pattern your letter after the template provided hereby the NWLC.
If you want to consider taking action as a bar group, here is background information about federal judicial vacancies from the American Bar Association. Here’s a fact sheet from the NWLC on why women’s rights are affected by the Supreme Court vacancy. For a detailed explanation by the Congressional Research Service of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s role in the Supreme Court appointment process, click here.
Here’s a sample op-ed piece provided by the NWLC you might tailor to fit a local newspaper.
Here are some examples of letters and press releases from bar organizations:
Queen’s Bench Bar Association was a signatory on a letter from numerous California local and specialty bar associations.
South Asian Bar Association of North America
To echo the words of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, “We need somebody now to do the job. Let’s get on with it.”
