Message from the President

First, a tribute: I am humbled to follow in the footsteps of Cathy Fleming, President Extraordinaire. She has been a tremendous role model and I intend to build on her achievements. Thanks so much, Cathy, for all you have done in the past year; the organization has jumped ahead by leaps and bounds due to your tireless leadership (and you never lost your legendary sense of humor!).

A few years ago I wrote a book about gender issues for lawyers, called Gender on Trial: Sexual Stereotypes and Work/Life Balance in the Legal Workplace. As a result, I spent a lot of time with women’s bar associations around the country giving talks about my book. At the time I sensed that a lot of these groups had lost their sense of purpose. After all, in the past women’s bar groups were all about support. Just gathering a bunch of “lady lawyers” was enough to justify a meeting, as women sought solidarity and a sense that each wasn’t “the only woman in the room.”

No more. Today’s female lawyers are too busy and too savvy to spend time outside of work doing anything other than activities that are of unquestionable value in career advancement or helping to advance women’s broader legal issues. So, while yesterday’s message was about support, now it’s about fostering skills, success and solutions.

And that’s why NAWL is such a special bar group. Our organization provides programs that are meticulously planned to ensure that they help women lawyers all around the country. Our vision is that we provide tips, career support, and advice ­­ all the inside info ­­ to women lawyers at every stage of their careers. So, from the time that women make the transition from law school, through to networking and negotiating and other skills to make it in practice, to planning carefully for off-ramping, to speeding back onto the on ramps, we want to be there for female attorneys so that they can thrive at every step. We’ve had enough of frustration and setbacks: we are here to help women lawyers in America find true, uncompromised satisfaction in their careers.

We also stand ready to provide guidance on weightier matters: to participate as amicus curiae in select cases; to provide legislative insight; to review the qualifications of Supreme Court nominees and to participate in international legal issues of vital concern to women around the world.

We have a very exciting year ahead. I am honored to be leading such a distinguished organization, begun in 1899 by 18 intrepid women in New York, now many thousands of members strong. I am further blessed to be part of a Board that is packed with high­flying, smart, funny, fabulous women, who dedicate themselves to this organization. Here’s to another terrific year.

Holly English
NAWL President, 2007­2008