In This Issue:

• Submit Your Nominations for 2010-2011 NAWJ Board Officer Positions, Deadline August 1st
• Submit Your Nominations for NAWJ Annual Awards, Deadline June 27th
• NAWL 2010 Annual Meeting and Awards Luncheon, July 21-22, New York City
• San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate, NAWJ's 32nd Annual Conference
• Golden Gate University Lecture, Women Chief Justices Event, October 12th
• UPDATE: NALP to Test New Law Firm Equity Partner Gender Data Collection This Summer
• NAWJ Co-Sponsors ABA Annual Meeting Programs
• New NAWJ Merchandise: Desk Clock, Velvet-lined Lacquered Box
• UPDATE: Counterbalance Submissions Due by July 15, 2010

Nominating Committee Seeks Nominations for 2010-2011 NAWJ Board of Directors Positions

The Nominating Committee of the National Association of Women Judges seeks nominees for the following positions in the 2010-2011 term:

• President-Elect
• Vice President for Districts
• Vice President for Publications
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• ABA Delegate

The duties of these positions are set out in the Bylaws, Art. X (Duties of Officers) and Art. VIII (Representatives of Other Organizations.) NAWJ Bylaws:
"The Nominating Committee shall present at least one (l) nominee for each officer's position. A nomination for each officer's position also may be submitted in writing to the Nominating Committee by petition of no less than nine (9) voting members of the organization at least sixty (60) days prior to the Annual Meeting. The list of nominees for each position designated by the Nominating Committee and by petition shall be circulated to the voting membership at least thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Meeting. Nominations for all officer positions may also be made by voting members from the floor at the Annual Meeting provided such nominees' names have previously been submitted to the Nominating Committee and the Nominating Committee has failed to endorse their candidacy."

We invite you to nominate yourself or another member (with consent) for any of these offices. Only voting members, current members who are either sitting or retired member judges, in good standing are eligible to hold office and remain subject to the canons of judicial conduct.

Please submit a letter stating the roles the nominee has played in NAWJ activities, including particular accomplishments you wish to bring to the committee's attention, and the nominee's curriculum vita. The letter also should include a paragraph on the strengths the nominee would bring to the leadership of the organization, such as, for example, past financial experience for the position of treasurer. Current officers seeking a different office must submit a letter of nomination. The President-Elect must have served a term as Vice President, Treasurer, or Secretary, or as Chair of the Projects Committee, the Resource Development Committee, or the Finance Committee. Candidates for the position of President-Elect should also address their plans to continue and build on NAWJ’s existing programs and implement NAWJ’s Long-Range Strategic Plan (2007-2012), which can be found at NAWJ’s website.

Individual nominations and nominations by petition must be submitted to the Nominating Committee by August 1, 2010. Please address letters to:
Hon. La Tia W. Martin
Chair, Nominating Committee
National Association of Women Judges
1341 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20036
Fax: (202) 393-0125 or E-mail: nawj@nawj.org

MEMBERS OF THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE:
Hon. Mary Becnel, 40th Judicial District Court, Edgard, LA
Hon. Judy Chirlin, Los Angeles Superior Court (Ret), Los Angeles, CA
Hon. Cissy Daughtrey, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Nashville, TN
Hon. Brenda Stith Loftin, St. Louis County Circuit Court, St. Louis, MO
Hon. Barbara Madsen, Washington Supreme Court, Olympia, WA
Hon. Margret Robb, Indiana Court of Appeals, Indianapolis, IN
Hon. Vanessa Ruiz, District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Washington, DC
Hon. Maritza Segarra, Geary County District Court, Junction City, KS
Hon. Bea Ann Smith, Third Court of Appeals (Ret), Austin, TX
Hon. J. E. Sullivan, Social Security Administration/ODAR, Morgantown, WV
Hon. Shirley Tolentino, Superior Court of New Jersey, Jersey City, NJ

NAWJ Awards Committee Seeks Nominations for annual Honorable Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year Award and Florence K. Murray Award

The NAWJ Awards Committee requests nominations for the Honorable Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year Award and for the Florence K. Murray Award. Nominations will be accepted for a period of two weeks beginning on Monday June 14th. The deadline for submitting a nomination for these two awards is June 27. To assist you in nominating a deserving candidate for these two important awards, sample forms are attached. Click here for KLEIN Award. Click here for MURRAY Award.

Awards will be given out at the 32nd Annual Conference to be held in San Francisco – October 13-17, 2010.
Please submit the completed nomination no later than June 27, 2010 to jgroton@nawj.org or by by mail or fax to:
Jeffrey Groton
Chief Operating Officer
National Association of Women Judges
1341 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20036-1834
Fax: 202-393-0125

AWARDS COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Colonel Linda Strite Murnane, Chair
Hon. Katherine Bacal, San Diego Superior Court, San Diego, CA
Hon. Diana Eagon, Hennepin County District Court (Ret.), Nokomis, FL
Hon. Sandra Farragut-Hemphill, St. Louis County Circuit Court, St Louis, MO
Hon. Sandra Robinson, State of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
Hon. Diana Becton Smith, Contra Costa Superior Court, Martinez, CA
Hon. Sandra Thompson, Los Angeles Superior Court, Torrance, CA
Hon. Barbara Zúñiga, Board Liaison, Contra Costa Superior Court, Martinez, CA

National Association of Women Lawyers

​2010 Annual Meeting & Awards Luncheon
July 21-July 22nd, 2010
The Waldorf Astoria
301 Park Avenue, New York, New York

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Night of Giving Networking Event
Benefiting CARE International
Featuring Sheryl Wudunn, Co-Author, "Half the Sky"

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Book Discussion: "Justice Older than the Law"
Author Katie McCabe will discuss her book on barrier-breaking, desegregationist, pioneer and civil rights lawyer Dovey Roundtree.
Women Make Great Leaders: How to Translate Leadership Skills Into Workplace Power    

Moderator: Lauren Rikleen, Senior Partner, Bowditch & Dewey LLP and Executive Director of the Bowditch Institute for Women's Success.
Panelists: Teresa Roseborough, Deputy General Counsel, Legal Affairs, MetLife; Elizabeth (Liza) Kessler, Partner-in-Charge, Jones Day, Columbus, OH.; Heidi Levine, Partner NYC, DLA Piper, Co-chair and Co-Founder of DLA Piper's National Women's Initiative, named the Leadership Alliance for Women (LAW); Judiciary, TBA

Workshop: Strategies to Leverage Workplace Power    

Facilitator: Susan Letterman White, MBTI Certified Consultant and Former Managing Partner of Hepburn Willcox Hamilton & Putnam, LLP

Annual Awards Luncheon    

Honoring: Arabella Babb Mansfield Award: The Honorable Judith Kaye
NAWL President's Award: Met Life Legal Department
NAWL Public Service Award: Elaine Jones, President, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
M. Ashley Dickerson Award: Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO, BET Entertainment

NAWL Outstanding Member Awards:    

Elicia Blackwell: Miami, FL
Merrie Cavanaugh: Dallas, TX
Katherine Compton: Houston, TX
Jennifer Guenther: San Bernadino, CA
Kristin Sostowski: Newark, NJ
Janet Stiven: Chicago, IL

How the Economy and In House Counsel Are Changing the Legal Landscape: Opportunities and Challenges for All  

 
Moderator: Pat Gillette, Partner, Orrick
Panelists: Mike Nannes, Managing Partner, Dickstein Shapiro; Kathryn Levering, Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath; Kerry Kotouc, Associate General Counsel and Section Head for Corporate Affairs & Government Relations and Legal Administration & External Relations, Walmart; Lisa Martinez-Wolmart, Legal Director, Merck & Co.

The Fourth Annual Conversation: Women Law Firm Leaders Collaborating to Move the Agenda Forward
** Presented by Karen Kahn, Threshold Advisors, LLC co-sponsored by NAWL 
**NOTE: This presentation is by invitation only-if you have an invitation, please register.
Registration

Hotel Reservations
The Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Please call 877.476.8796
A discounted rate of $269/night is available to NAWL members. However, rooms are limited and based on availability. Please request NAWL block rate when making your reservation.

NAWJ 2010 Annual Conference
San Francisco, Open Your Golden Gate!
October 13-17, 2010
A Focus on Children, Family and the Elderly

Hotel Announcement
New Annual Conference Host Hotel
The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

The host hotel for the Annual Conference has been changed from the Grand Hyatt to the Ritz Carlton. This change was made due to an ongoing boycott and job action at the Grand Hyatt, which had the potential to disrupt our ability to conduct a successful conference. The job action and associated demonstrations and picketing involve many hotels in downtown San Francisco, (see www.unitehere2.org), and we selected the Ritz Carlton as the replacement hotel because it was the only hotel that had both the capacity and availability to host our conference and was not subject to the job action.

Reserving at the Ritz Carlton
NAWJ rooms at the The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco are $289.00 plus applicable state and local taxes, single or double occupancy. For reservations call 1-800-241-3333 or (415)-296-7465 and state that you are with the National Association of Women Judges (NAWJ). Reservations must be made on or before Monday, September 20, 2010, to guarantee the conference rate (subject to availability). The group rate is being offered three days pre/post based on availability.
If you currently have a reservation at the Grand Hyatt and you wish to stay at the new host hotel, the Ritz Carlton, San Francisco, please call and cancel your Hyatt reservation (toll free: 1-800-233-1234) and make your new reservation at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco. If you choose to remain at the Grand Hyatt, your reservation is fine and the rate of $180+/night will be honored.
Click here for the Ritz Carlton hotel website, www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/SanFrancisco

Travel Planning
If you wish to make your travel arrangements now, the Conference begins October 13th with an Opening Reception at 6:00 p.m.
First Time Attendees’ orientation meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. before the Opening Reception.
The Annual Awards Banquet will take place on October 16th at 7:30 p.m. Of course there is a Farewell Breakfast on Sunday morning if you wish to grab a bite before you depart.
_____
PROGRAM AGENDA (subject to change)
        
Sample program participants:
Chief Judge Judith Kaye (Retired), New York State Court of Appeals
Chief Justice Ron George, Supreme Court of California
Judge Mary Schroeder (Former Chief) U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Gail Collins, New York Times Columnist
Professor Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law School, Former New York Times Supreme Court Journalist

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

NAWJ 2009-2010 Board Luncheon and Meeting
First Time Attendee Meeting
Evening Welcome Reception

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Conference Opening Welcome    

NAWJ President Justice Dana Fabe, Alaska Supreme Court
Chief Justice Ron George, Supreme Court of California
Plenary Session: Minnesota v. White    
Justice Ming Chin, Supreme Court of California
Professor Pamela Karlan, Stanford Law School
Michelle Friedland, Esq., Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP
Professor Judith Resnik (tentative)

Keynote Luncheon Speaker: Gail Collins    

Gail joined The New York Times in 1995 as a member of the editorial board, and in 2001 became the first woman ever appointed editor of The Times's editorial page. In 2007, she stepped down and finished her book "When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present," returning to The Times as a columnist in July 2007.

 Afternoon Education Programs  

"Girl Trouble"
Self Represented Litigants
Assessing Dangerousness
Intellectual Property
Elder Abuse

Reception at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Hospitality Suite Open

Friday, October 15, 2010

NAWJ District Breakfast Meetings

NAWJ Resource Board Meeting

Plenary Session: Before (and After) Roe v. Wade  

 
Judge Marla Miller, San Francisco City and County Superior Court
Professor Linda Greenhouse, Yale Law School
Professor Reva Siegel, Yale Law School

Morning Education Programs    

Foster Care
The Law's Migration
LexisNexis Program

Sponsors Luncheon Keynote Speaker: Richard North Patterson    
Richard is a former trial lawyer, and author of eight consecutive international best sellers, all greeted by critical acclaim including "Conviction" and "Protect and Defend." Mr. Patterson served as the Securities and Exchange Commission's liaison to the Watergate special prosecutor and is now on the boards of several Washington-based advocacy groups dealing with gun violence, political reform, and reproductive rights.

Afternoon Plenary Session: Conversation with Chiefs    

Justice Ron George, Supreme Court of California
Former Chief Judge Mary Schroeder, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Chief Judge Judith Kaye (Retired) New York Court of Appeals
Justice Carol Corrigan, California Supreme Court

Afternoon Education Programs    

Jurisdictional Issues: Tribal Courts and State and Federal Courts
Crawford v. Washington
New Judge Panel

Reception at the The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Hospitality Suite Open

Saturday, October 16, 2010

NAWJ Committee Breakfast Meetings

Plenary Session: Responding to Violence Against Women: Past Successes and Future Challenges Speaker: Susan B. Carbon, Director, Office on Violence Against Women

Plenary Session: "Where Have the Reporters Gone?"

NAWJ Business Meeting Luncheon, Investiture of Officers

NAWJ 2010-2011 Board Meeting
Cocktail Reception

NAWJ Annual Awards Banquet
Hospitality Suite Open

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Farewell Breakfast
REGISTER NOW! For more information, click here!

Golden Gate University Distinguished Lecture
Women Chief Justices Event
San Francisco, California
October 12, 2010

Former NAWJ Executive Director, Drusilla Ramey, now Dean of the Golden Gate University Law School in San Francisco, California very much hopes that a great group of early arrivals for the NAWJ Annual Conference will attend and help honor NAWJ President Dana Fabe and the other sitting and former Chiefs at a special event. This new GGU event annually features presentations by prominent state Supreme Court Chiefs.
This year’s event will begin with a brief welcome by Chief Justice George, followed by an introduction of, and address by, the Justice Dana Fabe. Justice Fabe’s remarks will immediately be followed by a dialogue among an extraordinary panel of women who are current or immediate-past Chief Justices—Alaska Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe, Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Chris Durham, Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Sears, and Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Janice Holder, and to some degree, some participation by California State Supreme Court Chief Ronald George. NAWJ co-founder California Appeals Court Justice Joan Dempsey Klein will serve as moderator.

The Women Chiefs' dialogue will be followed by an informal reception for all, and a small dinner at the City Club with the Chiefs.
NAWJ Initiative on Law Firm Equity Partner Gender Breakdown to Restart in 2011, Alternative Pilot Data Collection Method to Begin Summer 2010
Last month's update informed NAWJ members that the National Association for Law Placement (NALP) had ceased collecting equity-nonequity data as to female and minority attorneys in the face of push-back from law firms citing privacy concerns. NAWJ Past President, Massachusetts Appeals Court Justice Fernande R.V. Duffly, kicked into high gear, convened the initiatives’ leading drivers, Massachusetts Women's Bar Association Past President Julia Huston and U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, and garnered the support of 75 co-sponsoring signatories from among the nation’s leading legal institutions and practicing professionals to respond with a memo/letter to NALP Executive Director James G. Leipold. The letter urges NALP to commit to providing transparency regarding this important data that will lead to advancing women in the profession.
Judge Duffly and Mr. Liepold have remained in communication. In a recent email, he confirms NALP's commitment to collecting demographic data about the equity and non-equity partners for NALP’s Directory of Legal Employers. Ways to address law firm’s privacy concerns, while also obtaining the essential data, will be tested on a handful of law firms during the summer of 2010, with the goal that data collection resume in January 2011. Judge Duffly is urging signatories to the letter to stand as leading examples by supplying the data in the next collection cycle, and is asking that law schools consider denying on-campus recruiting to law firms that refuse.

NAWJ Joins in Sponsorship of American Bar Association Programs from National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, Judicial Division and Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements Programs

At the upcoming ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the ABA’s National Conference of Federal Trial Judges ("NCFTJ"), the ABA Judicial Division, and the ABA’s Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements ("SCFJI") will be presenting three stellar events (listed below), which are sure to be among the most informative, provocative, and high profile programs at the Annual Meeting. All of which will offer attendees free CLE Credit):
Friday, August 6th

Justice 12.0 – Is There An App for That? A look at the future of the justice system. Spoiler Alert: Science fiction may be more truth than fiction!
'Judging Aging – The Quiz Show' Audience members will use hand-held technology to "vote" on the answers to quiz questions on topics such as the specific cognitive functions involved in the process of "judging," how aging affects those functions, and the positive effects associated with aging which may enhance judges' performance on the bench."

Sunday, August 8th

Fair Trial, Free Press? Trying High-Profile Cases in a 24/7 'New Media' World" has been named a "Presidential Showcase Program,

Get Custom NAWJ Merchandise!

Support the Contra Costa Inmate Industries Program and show your NAWJ pride by ordering your desk clock or velvet-lined lacquered box today.

Please see the brochure for more information. Order via the online order form or download the order form and either fax or mail it to the NAWJ national office.

Summer Issue of Counterbalance
The next issue of Counterbalance will be published in August. If you are considering or planning a submission, please forward to VP of Publications Judge Amy Nechtem (amy.nechtem@jud.state.ma.us) or Lavinia Cousin (lcousin@nawj.org) at NAWJ by July 15, 2010 in order to meet our August delivery schedule.    

About NAWJ
The National Association of Women Judges is a non-profit organization which has for 27 years served as the nation's leading voice for jurists dedicated to preserving judicial independence; ensuring equal justice and access to the courts for women, minorities and other historically disfavored groups; providing judicial education on cutting-edge issues; and increasing the numbers and advancement of women judges at all levels to more accurately reflect their full participation in a democratic society.  For more information, visit www.nawj.org or call 202.393.0222.