FORMER CHIEF JUDGE JUDITH S. KAYE AWARDED THE PRESTIGIOUS JOAN DEMPSEY KLEIN NAWJ HONOREE OF THE YEAR AWARD

The National Association of Women Judges will honor the Honorable Judith S. Kaye with its prestigious Joan Dempsey Klein NAWJ Honoree of the Year Award at the NAWJ Annual Awards Banquet on Saturday evening October 15, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey.

The Honorable Judith S. Kaye served as Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals for 15 years until her retirement in 2008, longer than any other Chief Judge in New York’s history. She first was appointed in 1983 by Gov. Mario Cuomo as an Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, becoming the first woman ever to serve on New York’s highest court. Judge Kaye gained a national reputation for both her groundbreaking decisions and her innovative reforms of the New York court system. She wrote notable decisions on a wide variety of statutory, constitutional and common law issues, including rights for gay couples and the death penalty. Judge Kaye also left her mark on New York’s courts as a creative reformer, streamlining New York’s jury system and establishing specialized courts to focus on issues such as drug addiction, domestic violence and mental health issues. In addition, she created the Adoption Now program that has produced more effective procedures for children in foster care and their families. Her reforms have been implemented by many other state courts. Judge Kaye joined Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates’ Litigation Group in 2009. Before her appointment to the bench, she practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell, IBM and Olwine, Connelly, Chase, O’Donnell & Weyher, where she became a partner.

The Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year Award is awarded each year to honor a judge who brings distinction to their office and to the National Association of Women Judges as exemplified by NAWJ’ s founder, Justice Joan Dempsey Klein.

The award will be presented at the annual awards banquet held during the NAWJ 33rd Annual Conference on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at the Newark Club. For NAWJ conference information visit www.nawj.org.

The National Association of Women Judges’ mission is to: Promote the judicial role of protecting the rights of individuals under the rule of law through strong, committed, diverse judicial leadership, fairness and equality in the courts, and equal access to justice.

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