California Women Lawyers (CWL) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Judith Soley Award.   The award will be presented at the annual award dinner.  If you would like to request that WLS support a nomination for this award, please contact Meghan Covert Russell at mrussell@kmtg.com, Amy Heavey Halloran at amy@williamslawassociates.com or Julia Reeves at Julia.reeves80@yahoo.com.

The Soley Award will be presented to a worthy recipient who has made a significant contribution to the community, extending beyond the practice of law, to devote time and effort to the public good and values through the tradition of public service and involvement, and who exemplifies the values and missions of California Women Lawyers.

Candidates for the award are judged on the basis of the following attributes which were characteristic of Judith Soley:

* Possesses a demonstrated commitment and passion regarding civic and charitable engagement;

* Embodies the elements of being an excellent, civil and honorable lawyer;

* Values compassion and empathy along with advocacy when addressing clients’ individual needs;

* Works to improve the legal system through education and involvement in bar associations;

* Participates in the public life of his or her community, state and nation;

* Is a leader, a role model and mentor; and,

* Demonstrates a commitment to the missions of California Women Lawyers.
Nomination forms must be received on or before May 1, 2014.
For information concerning this award, please visit www.cwl.org

California Women Lawyers (CWL) is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Faye Stender Award.   The award will be presented at the CWL dinner during the State Bar 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego. If you would like to request that WLS support a nomination for this award, please contact Meghan Covert Russell at mrussell@kmtg.com, Amy Heavey Halloran at amy@williamslawassociates.com or Julia Reeves at Julia.reeves80@yahoo.com

CWL established the Fay Stender Award in 1982 in honor of Fay Stender, a Bay Area attorney who spent much of her professional life fighting for prisoners’ rights.  The annual award is given to a feminist attorney who, like Fay Stender, is committed to the representation of women, disadvantaged groups and unpopular causes, and whose courage, zest for life and demonstrated ability to effect change as a single individual make her a role model for women attorneys.

Nomination forms must be received on or before May 1, 2014.
For information concerning this award, please visit www.cwl.org

Please Join Us At The Women Lawyers of Sacramento February Luncheon
Featuring Hon. Alice Lytle (Ret.) Celebrating Black History Month

***PLEASE NOTE THE SPEAKER CHANGE***

DATE: February 27, 2014

Hon. Alice Lytle (Ret.) is a pioneer and a role model. Born in Harlem, New York, Judge Lytle was the first of her family’s ten children to graduate from college, receiving her degree in Physiology and Public Health from Hunter College of New York. She worked for several years in the medical field, eventually moving west to work in the department of pediatric cardiology at the University of San Francisco Medical Center. After the 1968 assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, she decided to leave her career in medicine to attend law school and become a civil rights lawyer. While in law school at Hastings College of the Law, Judge Lytle served as the President of the Black Law Students Association, and worked with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the National Housing and Economic Development Law Project, the Earl Warren Institute, and the Alameda County Public Defender’s office. Beginning in 1975, Judge Lytle served in the Administration of Edmund P. (“Pat”) Brown, Jr., first as Chief Deputy Legal Affairs and then as Division Chief of the Fair Employment and Housing Division of the Department of Industrial Relations. By 1979 she was Secretary of the State and Consumer Services Agency, an executive-level position. In 1982, Governor Brown appointed her to the Sacramento County Municipal Court, and upon unification of the courts in 1998, Judge Lytle was elevated to the Sacramento County Superior Court. She was the first African American woman appointed to the Sacramento County court, and for all but the last two months of her 20-year tenure, she was the only African American woman to serve on that bench. While on the bench, Judge Lytle established what is believed to be the first Children’s Waiting Room in the nation, she established the Healthy Teen Mothers Project, served as a mentor to pregnant teens while working with an outreach program for first-time expectant mothers called The Birthing Project, and she created the SacraMentor Program to assist juvenile delinquents. Judge Lytle led the Sacramento County Superior Court’s Self-Represented Litigants Team and was a member of the Judicial Council’s Self-Represented Litigants Team. She also served on the Judicial Council’s Gender Bias Committee and its Standing Committee on Juvenile and Family Law. Judge Lytle was the first recipient of the Women Lawyers of Sacramento’s prestigious Frances Newell Carr Award, and she also received the San Francisco Women Lawyers’ Alliance’s Crystal Gavel Award for Jurist and the California Women Lawyer’s Rose Bird Memorial Award.

WHERE: Lucca Restaurant and Bar, 1615 J Street, Sacramento, CA
TIME: 12:00-1:15 p.m.

MENU: Penne with Vegetables, Roast Beef Sandwich, Stuffed Peppers, House Chop Salad with Chicken. Each menu item comes with the choice of soda or iced tea.

COST: $25.00 for current WLS members, past presidents of WLS, and judges; $30.00 for all others, except law students, whose cost is $20.00. Without advance reservation, it may not be possible to get the entrée of your choice.

RSVP with menu choice and confirmation of mailed check by February 25 to Wendy Taylor at (916) 781-2550 or wtaylor@hansenkohls.com. Please mail your check, payable to WLS, with menu choice for receipt by February 26 to WLS, Attn: Luncheon, P.O. Box 936, Sacramento, CA 95814. Please indicate if you are a current WLS member, past president, or judge on the check. WLS is charged for cancellations. Payments must be received in advance and are not refundable. Seating at the door is subject to availability.

Pending 1.0 MCLE credit

Please bring any unused toiletries and women’s personal items to the luncheon for donation to Maryhouse, a non-profit organization that helps homeless women and children.

 

The California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA), a Committee of the California State Bar Association, is now accepting nominations for the 2014 Jack Berman Award of Achievement.   The award will be presented during the State Bar 2014 Annual Meeting in San Diego. If you would like to request that WLS support a nomination for this award, please contact Meghan Covert Russell at mrussell@kmtg.com, Amy Heavey Halloran at amy@williamslawassociates.com or Julia Reeves at Julia.reeves80@yahoo.com.

Each year CYLA recognizes a young or new lawyer for distinguished service to the public sector, the judiciary, or the public with the Jack Berman Award of Achievement.  The California State Bar established this prestigious award in 1992 to recognize the individual achievements of a lawyer who is either in his/her first five years of practice or age 36 and under.  The award is named in memory of Jack Berman, a young lawyer who demonstrated outstanding service to the profession and the public, and who was tragically killed in a San Francisco shooting. This annual award honors his dedicated service to issues of concern to the profession, especially its young lawyers.

Nomination forms must be received on or before, 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, February 25, 2014.  The project/service may include work performed in prior years, but should highlight the achievements accomplished in 2013.

For information concerning this award, please contact Laila Bartlett at laila.bartlett@calbar.ca.gov or by phone at (415) 538-2232 or visit http://cyla.calbar.ca.gov/CYLA/JackBermanAward.asp.