2014 NCWBA Member Organizations

2013-2014 NCWBA Officers and Board

     

March 2014 

2014 Public Service and Outstanding Member Program Awards to be Presented August 8

The NCWBA Awards Committee, chaired by Wendy Weigler of Denver, has announced the winners of the 2014 Public Service and Outstanding Member Program Awards.  The New Hampshire Women's Bar Association will be honored for Overcoming Cancer's Legal Challenges. The Outstanding Member Program Award will be presented to Broward County Women Lawyers' Association for Maze of Injustice--Issues and Concerns Involving Native American Women and Children in the Courts. the awardees will be honored as part of the Women's Bar Leadership Summit on August 8 at a special luncheon at the Boston College Club, a short walk away from the Summit venue of Suffolk University Law School. 

 

Our luncheon keynote speaker will be Nancy Gertner. Formerly a federal judge, Nancy Gertner is now Professor of Practice at Harvard Law School. She will be honored as a recipient of this year's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. 

 

Our opening keynote speaker for the Summit will be Lauren Stiller Rikleen, author of the highly acclaimed, ground-breaking book You Raised Us, Now Work With Us-Millennials, Career Success and Building Strong Workplace Teams. Her book is an indispensable resource to help Millennials, Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers understand generational differences and create a more effective work environment.  She will provide new insights and rebut old stereotypes about Millennials and offer practical advice to bar leaders, bar association representatives and other Summit attendees about how to build bridges and develop the next generation of talented leaders. We'll have more details about the Summit soon.  

In the meantime, it is not too early to reserve your room at the Nine-Zero Hotel, where we have a special Summit rate. Click here, or call the hotel at 1-800 KIMPTON  and ask for the Women's Bar Leadership Summit rate. 

March 2014 Update on the Federal Judiciary

 By Amy Matsui, Senior Counsel, National Women's Law Center

Happy Women's History Month! As we approach the end of the month, we wanted to take stock of the gains women have made in terms of their representation on the federal judiciary under the Obama Administration. One of President Obama's signature accomplishments was the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, where three women now serve for the first time in history.

While the Supreme Court tends to garner more attention, President Obama has had an impact on the gender balance on lower federal courts as well. After six years, the percentage of active female judges on the federal bench has increased from about 25% to about 32%. Five women are currently serving on the important U.S. Court of Appeals to the District of Columbia Circuit for the first time in history, and the number of women serving on the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, and Federal Circuits has increased as well. Thirteen judges have been confirmed as the first woman judge in their district; seven more as the first woman circuit court judge in their state.

The diversity of the lower courts, both in terms of gender, and of race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and professional background, will continue to increase as the Senate moves through the current backlog on judicial nominees. After the lull in confirmations that followed the vote on Robert Wilkins to the D.C. Circuit in January, the Senate has recently voted on a number of nominees. At the end of February, the Senate confirmed four district court nominees, including Beth Freeman to the Northern District of California. And earlier this month, the Senate confirmed Carolyn McHugh to a Utah-based seat on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, thereby doubling the number of active female judges on that court, and Pamela Reeves as the first woman to sit on the Eastern District of Tennessee. The Senate confirmed seven other district court judges this month, including three women (Judith Ellen Levy, Laurie J. Michelson, and Linda Vivienne Parker) to district courts in Michigan, and will vote on the nomination of John Owens to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today. 

Although it's a good sign that the Senate has been voting on judicial nominees, it needs to pick up the pace to get through the backlog. Currently, there are 11 female nominees who are ready for Senate votes, including Diane Humetawa, who would be the first Native American female federal judge, and Nancy Rosenstengel, who would be the first woman to sit on the Southern District of Illinois, among the 28 total nominees who have been approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. And more nominations are announced, and more nominees are moving through the Committee process, every week.

The process for confirming these nominees has been slowed by the fact that a minority of Senators continue to insist on time-consuming cloture votes, even for nominees who are later confirmed by overwhelming majorities, if not unanimously. For example, cloture was obtained on Judge McHugh on a Monday, but a final vote was not held until two days later because of the requirement of 30 hours of post-cloture debate under Senate rules. Judge McHugh was ultimately confirmed by a 98-0 vote. The time requirements are lower for district court judges, but still unnecessarily drag out the confirmation process. With 83 vacancies on the federal bench, we can't afford to wait.

    On the Bookshelf : ABA Books for Bars

The ABA's new free monthly service for bar associations,

On the Bookshelf, profiles new ABA releases in a format which can easily be adapted for bar associations' own print or electronic newsletters.  Bar associations are also eligible for ABA Books for Bars, which gives association members a 15% discount on ABA publication purchases.  For more information, contact Jennifer Collins Ellis. 

The NCWBA maintains three separate listserves. Presidents and Presidents-Elect of our member associations are eligible for our Presidents Circle listserve.  Executive Directors and those who take on primary administrative tasks for member organizations which do not have paid staff are eligible for our Executive Directors listserve. Anyone involved with women's bar associations as a leader or member may opt to join our NCWBA@yahoogroups.com list.  This is an interactive list which is a great resource for referral requests, job announcements and other matters of interest to women's bar associations. To join this list, send us an e-mail with your name and the e-mail which you wish to use, describing your involvement in a women's bar association. Let us know if you know of people who wish to be added to any of our lists.

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Member organizations are invited to have links to significant upcoming events on our "Members" page. Send us your links!