Happenings for Women Criminal Lawyers
The NACDL White Collar Conference is scheduled Oct. 21-23 in New York at Fordham Law School. If you haven’t had the privilege of attending this white collar conference, I highly recommend it. It is one of the best white collar conferences around and there is a great list of women and men that will be speaking and discussing new trends in the field. I will be there the entire time, so please look for me and say “hi.” In addition to the wonderful content, there are great networking opportunities and the NACDL’s Women’s Initiative has organized a Women’s Networking Event for Oct. 23, hosted and sponsored by Davis Polk. This will be a great opportunity for women in the field to connect.
I would also recommend, if you are handling white collar matters, that you look into the Women White Collar Defense Association and find a local chapter to start meeting women in your area that do what you do. If there isn’t anything in your area, maybe it is time to consider reaching out to the organization and creating a city chapter where you live.
Nominations are being accepted for the 2016 Margaret Brent Awards. These awards are through the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and recognize women lawyers who have excelled in their field and have paved the way to success for other women lawyers. I have some women in mind for our field; please go in and nominate women who you think have paved the road for women in criminal defense.
There are some new opportunities for women who want to take a break from practicing to raise a family. The OnRamp Fellowship offers assistance for women who took a hiatus from the field to get back to work. And the list of firms that are signing up to accept fellows is growing, including larger BigLaw firms, such as Skadden, Morrison & Foerster, and Wiley Rein, to name a couple.
It is important to stay connected and tuned in to what is happening for women in law and in our specific field. Please let me know if there is something noteworthy in your neck of the woods that you would like to promote.