NAWJ Monthly Update September 2018
Written by National Association of Women Judges|September 04, 2018|Monthly Update Archive
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Dear Members,
It is with sheer delight that I introduce to you to our new Executive Director, Connie Pillich. Connie is the epitome of a renaissance woman. She has served our country as a Captain in the United States Air Force; as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives; and as Ohio State Treasurer and was a former Democratic candidate for Governor of Ohio. She is the founder of her own law firm, as well as a consulting firm which provided legal, management, development and political consulting services. Connie brings this impressive background to NAWJ, as well as a wealth of enthusiasm and can-do attitude.
Connie will assume her new role on September 17th and will join us in San Antonio for our 40th Annual Conference. Please join me in welcoming Connie to the NAWJ family. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Connie for her letter of introduction to the membership in this update.
I am also pleased to announce the formation of two new committees, the LGBTQ Committee and the Governmental Affairs Committee. The Governmental Affairs Committee will capitalize on the momentum started at our highly successful Legislative Caucus; our presence at the press conference regarding the reauthorization of VAWA; and recent approval of one of our trademark applications for "#WETOO IN THE LEGAL WORKPLACE." We must become proactive in establishing relationships with our governmental representatives, as well as providing our expertise regarding various legislative matters. Such action will ensure we remain the leading voice for women judges.
Sincere thanks to Judge Anita Josey-Herring for agreeing to chair this committee. Please contact Judge Josey-Herring at 
Hon. Tanya R. Kennedy
Greetings!
It is my great pleasure to introduce myself as your new Executive Director. I am an attorney, military veteran, and mom of two grown children. After serving our country in support of Desert Storm and in West Berlin, I settled in Cincinnati, where I met my husband, started our family, and became an attorney. I spent six years as a public defender before opening my own law firm and serving in the state legislature. Much of my professional and personal life has been dedicated to advocating for women, children, and veterans. I am completely enthralled with NAWJ's commitment to diversity, equal access to justice, and improving the lives of women and children. I greatly look forward to supporting this mission.
I can't wait to see you all at the conference in San Antonio!
My warmest regards,
Connie Pillich
The NAWJ Awards Committee is pleased to share that the Honorable Bea Ann Smith (Ret.) is the 2018 Honorable Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year. Judge Smith is retired from the Third District of Appeals of Texas and served as NAWJ President from 2002-2003. Judge Smith will be awarded the 2018 Honorable Joan Dempsey Klein Honoree of the Year award during the San Antonio Annual Conference.
Excerpts of the nomination for Judge Smith are below. We hope many of you can join us in San Antonio where we will honor her wonderful accomplishments.
Sincere congratulations to Judge Smith. We are grateful for her many contributions to NAWJ, the bench and entire legal community throughout her career, and look forward to celebrating her in October!
Judge Kristin L. Rosi has been on the bench since 2007 and serves as the Chief Administrative Law Judge for the California Department of Insurance. Judge Rosi is also a Mental Health Hearing Officer for the Alameda County Superior Court and serves as a Judge Pro Tem in the County's Traffic and Small Claims courts. Judge Rosi is an active member of NAWJ, serving as the Co-Chair of Administrative Judiciary Committee, and a member of the Women in Prison and International Court committees. She also serves on the Board of the International Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Judges, serving on their Education committee. In August 2018, Judge Rosi was appointed to the Executive Committee of the American Bar Association's National Conference of Administrative Law Judiciary and as the Conference's Editor to the ABA's Judicial Record. Judge Rosi holds an A.B. from Smith College in Women's Studies and Psychology, a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she was a Public Interest Scholar, and will receive her Master's in Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno in May 2019. Judge Rosi lives in the Bay Area and has a five-year-old son.
Judge Debra Silber was elected to the New York City Civil Court, Kings County (Brooklyn, NY) in 1997 and was re-elected in 2007. She was the first candidate to run for judicial office in Brooklyn as an out member of the LGBTQ community. She was appointed an Acting Supreme Court Justice by designation in January of 2004 and was elected to the Supreme Court in 2015. Justice Silber has been presiding over civil cases at the Supreme Court, Kings County since January of 2010. In her 20 years on the bench, she has presided over the Richmond County Integrated Domestic Violence Court, which handles Criminal Court, Family Court and divorce cases, spent a year in Brooklyn Supreme Court, Criminal Term, and for four years sat in Family Court adjudicating custody and visitation matters as well as orders of protection, adoptions and guardianships. Before her election, Justice Silber was in private law practice, and during that time, she served on many boards and commissions. From 1992 to 1996, she served as a (part-time) Commissioner on the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board, the agency that hears complaints of New York City police misconduct. Justice Silber also served on her local community planning board, on the board of her synagogue, and has been a volunteer for many organizations and political campaigns. In 1978, she was a founding member of Lambda Independent Democrats, the Brooklyn-wide LGBTQ democratic club, and served as an officer and as a board member. Justice Silber is a graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law (1982) and New York University. She has two children, ages 19 and 23, and lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Judge Helen Whitener has served as a judge on the Pierce County Superior Court in the State of Washington since 2015. She is the first immigrant-born judge of her court, second black woman on her bench, and she is also the first openly black LGBT judge in the State of Washington. In 2017, she was appointed by the Washington State Supreme Court to the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, and the Office of Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee. She serves as a Chair of the Washington State Superior Court Judges' Association – Equity and Fairness Committee and is an Advisory Council member for the QLaw Association of Washington. Judge Whitener is also on the Board of the International Association of LGBT Judges (IALGBT) and is a member of the International Association of Women Judges, the National Association of Women Judges, and the American Judges Association. Prior to her appointment, Judge Whitener served as a judge on the Washington State Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals and as a pro-tem judge in Pierce County District Court and the City of Tacoma Municipal Court. She also worked as a prosecutor and defense attorney.
Judge Anita Josey-Herring is an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. She was appointed to the bench in November 1997 by President Bill Clinton. As an Associate Judge, she served in the Family, Civil and Criminal Divisions of the court. In 2000 Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Chief Judge to serve as the Deputy Presiding Judge of the Family Court until December 2005. In 2006, she was elevated to the position of Presiding Judge of the Family Court and managed that court division through 2008. Judge Josey-Herring is a 1987 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center. While attending Georgetown as an evening division student, she was a member of the Legal Ethics Law Journal and was employed full time in various legal support positions. Judge Josey-Herring was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. in the District of Columbia Superior Court. As a judicial clerk, she worked on a variety of civil law issues. In 1988, Judge Josey-Herring joined the District of Columbia Public Defender Service as a staff attorney. While in the trial division, she handled a heavy caseload and litigated juvenile, misdemeanor and felony cases in the Superior Court and supervised less senior staff attorneys. She also served in the Public Defender Service's (PDS) appellate division arguing cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In 1994, while handling serious felonies and homicide cases, Judge Josey-Herring was appointed by the Board of Trustees of the Public Defender Service to the position of Deputy Director of the agency. As Deputy Director, Judge Josey-Herring assisted the Director in all aspects of management and administration, including budgetary decision-making and supervision of agency staff
Judge Josey-Herring played a significant role in the development, management and implementation of the D.C. Family Court. She led the Family Treatment Court Initiative. This program provides drug treatment and social services to mothers charged with neglecting their children due to substance abuse. She also presided over the Juvenile Drug Court prior to the establishment of the Family Treatment Court. As Presiding Judge of the Family Court, Judge Josey-Herring procured grant funding for the Fathering Court Program although she had a judicial colleague in the Family Court preside over that calendar. Along with Court Social Services counseling staff, Judge Josey-Herring initiated the implementation and oversaw planning of the Juvenile Sex Offender Program. Moreover, during her tenure as the Presiding Judge, the Parent Agreement and Cooperation (PAC) was established to assist parents involved in high conflict divorces by providing mediators with mental health backgrounds to diffuse discord in domestic relations cases. The program was A collaboration with the Court, the Domestic Relations Bar and the American Psychological Association. She has received many awards in recognition of her service to citizens of the District and beyond.
Judge Colleen Clark has been a judge on the Arapahoe County Court in Colorado since September 30, 2016. Prior to her appointment she was a Municipal Judge in Aurora, CO and a Magistrate for Colorado Eighteenth Judicial District. Judge Clark became an NAWJ member earlier this year and has jumped right in co-chairing the Law School Outreach committee for District 12. She received her B.A. from the University of Rochester and her J.D. from Boston University.
This summer I had the most eye-opening and rewarding experience interning for Judge Elizabeth Allen White at the Los Angeles Superior Court. Growing up, I've always had an interest in the law; however, I had always assumed that entering into the law meant being a lawyer. After learning more about the roles of judges in a constitutional law course, I became intrigued by the profession and sought to learn more. Prior to my internship, I lacked access to proximate living examples of women judges and held a narrow view of how they commanded their courtrooms. After my eight-week long experience at the courthouse, I not only observed dozens of trials with women judges presiding, but also realized just how diverse the bench can be – both in terms of individual personalities and demographics. Seeing role models in the flesh provided me with, as Justice Sotomayor put it, "more than inspiration; [their] very existence is confirmation of possibilities … saying, ‘Yes, someone like me can do this.'" My summer internship allowed me to realize my dream of becoming an Asian-American woman judge. I am grateful to Judge Elizabeth Allen White, NAWJ President Justice Tanya R. Kennedy, Professor Judith Resnik, and the trailblazers of NAWJ for the unforgettable experience and for empowering young women like myself to continue chasing our dreams.
(CORRECTION: Last month's Update identified Jeon as a Yale Law School student. She is a History major specializing in the U.S. region at Yale University and will be a junior this fall.)
COUNTRIES: HUNGARY, AUSTRIA, SLOVAKIA, GERMANY
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