Message from the Chairs

Welcome to the ABA Section of Litigation Woman Advocate Committee. We provide opportunities for our members to network with other women litigators, and we seek to be a welcoming portal for women lawyers entering the profession. Our mission is to help shape policy and advocate for change on key issues affecting women lawyers, such as pay equity, partnership tracks, women-in-leadership in law firms, retention issues, work/life balance issues, and issues of concern to women litigators of color. We aim to provide support to women litigators in their efforts to develop business. We provide resources—including educational and networking opportunities for our members—to foster the development, advancement, and retention of women litigators in law firms and corporations. Our programming focuses on managing the professional and personal challenges specific to women litigators. In short, we strive to be the leading resource for business and professional development for women litigators practicing law today.

The Woman Advocate Committee has had a banner first half of the 2009/2010 ABA bar year. Our newsletter, headed up by editor in chief, Haley Maple, was recognized as the Section of Litigation’s Committee Newsletter of the Year at the recent Fall Leadership Meeting. Do you have an idea for or would you like to write an article? Contact Haley Maple at hmaple@forizs-dogali.com. We hosted our first series of regional brown bag networking lunches in October, headed up by Effie Silva, our State Membership Liaison chair, which were a great success. We look forward to our next round of regional lunches in May 2010. If you are interested in hosting a regional lunch in your area in May, please email Effie Silva at effie.silva@bakermckenzie.com.

The committee also acted as a cosponsor of the annual Corporate Counsel CLE Seminar and held in February. The Woman Advocate Committee presented a dynamic panel of speakers on the “Diversity Dilemma: The Recession’s Impact on the Profession’s Commitment to Diversity.” Many thanks to Jane Piggott, from R3 Group, who moderated the panel discussion, and to Jim Potter, General Counsel of Del Monte Foods, Paul Williams, managing partner of Major Lindsey & Africa, and Steve Lowenthal, managing partner of Farella Braun + Martel LLP, who were our stellar panelists on the topic. Our keynote speaker at Saturday’s networking lunch was Dr. Jacob Herring, a psychologist by training and a renowned communications consultant who helps companies and law firms communicate across cultural lines of difference. We all appreciated his invaluable insights. We played as much as we worked, and other highlights of the Corporate Counsel meeting included an annual networking spa event, organized by Trish O’Prey, one of our membership sub-committee cochairs, a Dutch Treat networking dinner, organized by Gilda Turitz, our other membership sub-committee cochair, and a desert hike led by a local naturalist, organized by new member Lisa Garrison.

Our Mentoring Subcommittee recently launched the first online mentoring program in the Section of Litigation. Mentoring sub-committee cochairs Daria Diaz and LuAnn White have developed an online Mentor Matching Program, which matches women lawyers at various stages of their careers with mentors who can help guide them to success. Read more about the program guidelines, and sign up to be assigned a mentor (form). After receiving your sign-up sheet, the Mentoring Subcommittee will forward an application requesting more detailed information about you, your interests, and your goals to facilitate a good match.

Next up for the Woman Advocate Committee is the Section Annual Conference, coming up on April 21 through 23, 2010 in New York City. Our key program at the meeting will be our “Opening Doors” networking event, which will take place on Wednesday afternoon, April 21, 2010. Chaired by Paula Hinton, Theresa Bult, and Evelyn Storch, this “speed dating” style program will provide an opportunity for participants to meet in-house corporate lawyers and help foster relationships that might lead to business development opportunities. Interested in participating? Contact Evelyn Storch at EStorch@harwoodlloyd.com for more information.
The committee will also be participating in the Section’s annual Committee Expo, which showcases the works of the Litigation Section’s committees. Stop by and visit our table at the expo on Thursday afternoon, April 22, 2010. from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.. The committee will also be joining the Business Tort Committee, Minority Trial Lawyer Committee, and Corporate Counsel Committee for dinner on Wednesday, April 21, 2010.

Never attended an ABA meeting before? The committee will arrange for a “meeting mentor” to help you navigate through your first ABA meeting. Just get in touch with Belinda Vega, our Young Lawyer Outreach subcommittee chair, and she will assign you a meeting mentor who will connect with you in advance of the meeting, answer any questions about the meeting process, and introduce you to other committee members at the meeting.

Can’t make it to New York this year? Another way to be involved is to participate in our monthly conference call of our subcommittee chairs and interested members. The calls are usually held on the third Thursday of each month, at 10:00 a.m. central/11 a.m. eastern time. Never more than an hour long, we review the status of our ongoing projects, plan for upcoming events, and brainstorm creative ways that we can deliver value to our members and expand our reach. Send us an email and let us know you’d like to participate, and we’ll make sure you receive the next conference call invitation. If you are interested in any of these activities, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We’d love to hear from you.

• Lucia Coyoca
• Nan Joesten