About the Commission Members - Bios
Read news release of Ms. Liebenberg's appointment to chair the Commission
Roberta D. Liebenberg is a senior partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black in Philadelphia, where she focuses her practice on class actions, antitrust and complex commercial litigation.
Every year since 2004, Ms. Liebenberg has been listed in the highest band-level as one of the leading antitrust lawyers in Pennsylvania by the 2009 Chambers USA Guide: America's Leading Business Lawyers. The Chambers Guide states that "she truly is one of the most talented and accomplished antitrust lawyers in the country" and that she "always impresses with her deep knowledge, experience and vital understanding of the economic aspects of a case." Since 2006, she has been listed in Best Lawyers in America in the field of Antitrust. Ms. Liebenberg serves as a member of the Best Lawyers Advisory Board.
Ms. Liebenberg is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has written and lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects, including antitrust, class actions, consumer financial services litigation and expert witness testimony, and issues pertaining to gender, racial and ethnic fairness in the justice system.
In May, 2007, Ms. Liebenberg was named as one of the National Law Journal's "50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America." She was recently selected by the Philadelphia Bar Association as the winner of the 2008 Sandra Day O'Connor Award, which is conferred annually on a woman attorney who has demonstrated superior legal talent, achieved significant legal accomplishments and has furthered the advancement of women in both the profession and the community (listen to her introduction/acceptance speech / read her acceptance speech). In June, 2008 and June, 2009, she was named as one of the "Top Ten Super Lawyers" in Pennsylvania in Philadelphia Magazine, the only woman to receive such an honor. In October, 2006, Ms. Liebenberg was honored by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell as a "Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania." In April, 2003, she was the first recipient of the Lynette Norton Award by the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession in recognition of her outstanding litigation skills and mentoring of women attorneys. In December, 2003, she was recognized as one of the "Women of Distinction" by the Philadelphia Business Journal and the National Association of Women Business Owners, based on her commitment to professional excellence and community involvement. Every year since 2004, she has been listed by Philadelphia Magazine as one of the "Top 50 Female Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania" and one of the "Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania." Ms. Liebenberg was named one of the "Women Leaders in the Profession" by the Legal Intelligencer. She was recognized as a leader in the field of Class Actions.
Ms. Liebenberg chaired the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession from 1995 to 1997. She also served as Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Women in the Profession Committee from 2005-2007.
Ms. Liebenberg was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, and serves as Chair of its Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Victims Committee. Previously, she was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to its Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System, where she was Co-Chair of the Gender Bias Committee. In addition, she served as Co-Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Special Committee to Coordinate the Bar's Response to Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System, as well as its Gender Fairness Task Force. She also served on the Advisory Board of DirectWomen, an ABA initiative to enable women lawyers to prepare for service as directors on corporate boards.
Ms. Liebenberg served as Chair of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary from 2006-2007. Prior to that appointment, she served as the Third Circuit representative on the Standing Committee from 2005-2006. In 2007, Ms. Liebenberg was elected as the Pennsylvania State Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, and she serves on the ABA Nominating Committee. From 2003 to 2005, Ms. Liebenberg was a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association, representing Pennsylvania and New Jersey. In addition, she served on the Governing Council of the American Bar Association's Section of Litigation and was the Section's Delegate to the House of Delegates. She also served as Chair of the Class Actions and Derivative Suits Committee of the Litigation Section. Ms. Liebenberg formerly chaired the Philadelphia Bar Association's Antitrust Committee from 2002-2007 and 1993-1997.
Members
Helaine M. Barnett was appointed President of the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) in January 2004. LSC was created by Congress in 1974 as a private, not-for-profit corporation and is totally funded by Congress. LSC's mission is to promote equal access to justice in our nation and to provide high quality civil legal assistance to lowincome persons. LSC, with a budget of approximately $390 million for fiscal year 2009, funds 137 civil legal aid programs with more than 918 offices across the country. LSCfunded programs handle close to one million cases annually. Helaine Barnett is the first legal aid attorney to serve as President of LSC, and, now in her sixth year, is the longest serving LSC President.
Under her leadership, LSC has emphasized strategies to enhance the quality of legal services provided by LSC-funded programs. The centerpiece of this effort has been a revision of LSC's Performance Criteria. LSC also issued a groundbreaking report, Documenting the Justice Gap in America, which provides compelling evidence of the current unmet civil legal needs of low-income Americans and found that 50 percent of eligible clients seeking assistance from LSC-funded programs are turned away because of a lack of program resources.
Before joining LSC, Barnett devoted her entire 37-year professional career to providing legal services to the indigent as a lawyer with The Legal Aid Society of New York City, the oldest and largest legal aid organization in the country. For nearly three decades, she was involved in managing the Society's multi-office Civil Division, which she headed from 1994 until the end of 2003. Under her watch, the division earned universal respect for its legal work, innovative projects, adherence to the highest professional and ethical standards, and its disaster response plan to coordinate the delivery of critical legal assistance to New Yorkers in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks.
Barnett has served on several prominent local, state, and national commissions and committees, including serving as the first and only legal services attorney on the ABA Board of Governors and Executive Committee. Among the many awards she has received include the New York State Bar Association's Gold Medal Award for Distinguished Service in the Law, the association's highest honor; an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Suffolk University; the National Association of Women Lawyers Public Service Award; the New York University School of Law Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award; and the ABA Commission on Women’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. She has also authored several law review articles, including most recently her Sherman J. Bellwood Lecture at the University of Idaho. In addition, she was invited to be the commencement speaker at the New York University School of Law. Barnett received her bachelor of arts from Barnard College and her law degree from New York University School of Law.
Jim Goh is a partner at Holland & Hart LLP in Denver, specializing in employment and education law. He represents management in the areas of employment discrimination, wrongful discharge, wage/hour, employment-related torts, employment contracts, and labor arbitration. Mr. Goh also has substantial experience in the defense of complex multi-plaintiff cases and class actions. In addition, Mr. Goh represents and counsels colleges and universities on issues related to employment, student privacy, student and faculty discipline, tenure denials, student athletics, diversity-based scholarships, and other aspects of education law.
An AV-rated lawyer, Mr. Goh frequently lectures on employment issues, both nationally and internationally, including Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, India, Indonesia and Canada. From 2002 through 2005, Mr. Goh served as Chair of the Employment and Immigration Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), an association of lawyers from around the world. He was also Vice-Chair of the Employer-Employee Relations subcommittee of the ABA's Torts & Insurance Practice Section.
In 1999, Mr. Goh was invited to be a member of President Clinton's Lawyers for One America Initiative. He has also been appointed by three successive ABA Presidents to serve on the ABA's Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice. From 1995 to 1999, he served on the Board of Governors of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA). Presently, Mr. Goh chairs NAPABA's Best Lawyers Under 40 Committee.
Within Holland & Hart, Mr. Goh chairs the firm's Diversity Committee. He also serves on the firm's Recruiting and Partnership committees.
Prior to joining Holland & Hart, Mr. Goh clerked for Hon. Frank G. Theis, U.S. District of Kansas. He received his B.A. (English), from The Colorado College, and his J.D. (1991) from the University of Kansas, where he served on the Kansas Law Review.
Lisa Horowitz is currently Director of Professional Development at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, an international law firm with offices throughout the United States and Europe. In this position, she facilitated the design, development and implementation of McDermott University, an integrated professional development system that includes departmental and firmwide core competencies, aligned training, mentoring and career development planning. She is a frequent trainer and speaker both at the firm and externally most recently at the 2005 Professional Development Institute co-sponsored by ALI/ABA and NALP. She has also had experience facilitating teambuilding, strategic planning, and leadership development at a number of other large organizations.
A graduate of Tufts University, Ms. Horowitz received her J.D. from The National Law Center, George Washington University, and her M.S. in Organizational Development/Human Resources from Johns Hopkins University. She has been a member of the District of Columbia Bar since 1979. As a practicing attorney, she was a partner with the law firm of Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley & Casey and most recently Special Counsel at Arnold & Porter.
Ms. Horowitz is a member of a number of professional organizations. She is on the Steering Committee of the Law Practice Management Section of the District of Columbia Bar and is on the Board of the National Association of Women Lawyers, Co- Chair of Programs. She is a member of the Professional Development Consortium, the American Bar Association and the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia as well.
Catherine Lamboley, retired Sr. Vice President and General Counsel of Shell Oil Company, is a native of Monroe, Wisconsin. Ms. Lamboley graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a secondary education degree and from the University of Texas School of Law where she graduated Order of the Coif. Ms. Lamboley joined Shell in 1979, and, with the exception of three years as Vice President of Commercial Marketing in Shell's Oil Products business, she has spent her career in the Shell Legal organization.
Issues concerning opportunity and inclusiveness have long been the focus of her professional and civic activities. Ms. Lamboley’s commitment is reflected by her participation in the Minority Corporate Counsel Association as Chair of the Board of Directors, her service on the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women and Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity, and her participation on the Texas Supreme Court’s Gender Bias Task Force Implementation Committee. Among the honors the Shell Legal organization has received in recognition of its commitment to opportunity and inclusiveness while Ms. Lamboley was General Counsel are the American Corporate Counsel Association’s Diversity Award, the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s Employer of Choice Award, and the Coalition of Bar Associations of Color Corporate Diversity Award.
Ms. Lamboley is also a member of the American Law Institute, has served on the Board of Directors for the University of Houston Law Foundation, and currently serves on the University of Texas Law School Foundation Board. Recognizing that access to legal assistance for all is critical to our society, Ms. Lamboley served on the Texas Access to Justice Commission's Committee of Corporate General Counsel, the Houston Bar Foundation's Board of Directors, and she is the immediate past Chair of the Corporate Advisory Committee of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association.
Ms. Lamboley cites her American Leadership Forum experience as invaluable in strengthening her leadership skills and civic commitment. Ms. Lamboley is a Senior Fellow of the ALF and serves on its Board of Trustees. Ms. Lamboley is immediate past Chair of the Board of the Houston Area Women's Center, served on the Board of the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, and was an original member and Chair of the United Way Women's Initiative. She served on the Board of Advisors for Catalyst, a national non-profit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business.
Among the honors she has received are the Anti-Defamation League Southwest Region's Jurisprudence Award for 2006, American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award for 2004, the United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast's Woman of the Year for 2002, and the Texas Executive Women’s "Woman on the Move" for 2002 .
Eileen M. Letts is co-founder and co-managing partner of Greene and Letts in Chicago. She graduated from ITT Chicago-Kent College of Law in 1978 and received the degree of Juris Doctor. Ms. Letts was admitted to practice before the Illinois Bar and the Federal Bar. She received her Bachelor of Arts from The Ohio State University in 1975.
Ms. Letts has extensive experience in litigation. Her emphasis has been on personal injury defense matters, where she has tried numerous cases to verdict. She has also tried contract disputes and construction litigation claims. She remains extensively involved in continuing legal education and the constant changes taking place in the practice of law and in the business of law.
Ms. Letts’ activities in the legal community include: Member of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, Past President, Chicago Bar Foundation, President, ITF Board of Directors, Member of the Economic Club of Chicago, Past Chair of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness, Committee Chair American Bar Association Section of Litigation, and Member of the 1996 – 97 Magistrate Merit Selection Panel for the Northern District of Illinois.
In the past, Ms. Letts has served the legal community as: Member of the Council of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association; Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association of Chicago-Kent College of Law; Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee of the Chicago Bar Association; Chairperson of the Young Lawyers Section of the Chicago Bar Association; Member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Bar Association; Co-Chair of the Solo and Small Firm Committee for the American Bar Association Section of Litigation; Liaison to the American Bar Association’s Special Committee on Solo and Small Firm Practitioners; Member of the Executive Committee of the Cook County Bar Association Special Committee on Minority Federal Jury Service, Member of the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Justice, and; President of Minority Legal Education Resources, Inc. Ms. Letts also served on the transition team for Chicago Mayor-Elect, Harold Washington. She belongs to the American, National, Chicago and Cook County Bar Associations.
Lorelie S. Masters is a partner in Jenner & Block's Washington, DC office. She is a member of the Firm's Litigation Department and Climate and Clean Technology Law and Insurance Litigation and Counseling Practices. Ms. Masters is AV Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.
Prior to joining Jenner & Block, Ms. Masters spent 17 years at Anderson Kill & Olick, L.L.P., in its nationally recognized insurance coverage group. Since 1983, she has advised and represented companies and individuals seeking to enforce insurance coverage under general liability, directors & officers, first-party property, health, and other types of insurance. Ms. Masters also has extensive experience in e-commerce issues and related records-management and electronic-discovery issues that arise from the increasing reliance on technology and computers.
Ms. Masters has handled, tried, and settled cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts across the country and, more recently, in arbitrations in the United States and abroad. At issue in these cases typically have been millions of dollars of insurance coverage for products liability and directors and officers claims.
Ms. Masters served as lead trial counsel for policyholder Hoechst Celanese Corporation in its action enforcing general liability insurance coverage for hundreds of thousands of product-liability claims against the policyholder in what the press called the largest property damage class action settlement ever. The National Law Journal called the jury's verdict in Hoechst Celanese's coverage case one of the "most significant jury verdicts of 1997." Most recently, Ms. Masters obtained an award of more than $92 million to cover product-liability claims against a major pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer in an arbitration conducted in London under the English Arbitration Act, 1996.
Ms. Masters is co-author of Insurance Coverage Litigation, an in-depth legal treatise first published in 1997 and updated annually, and Liability Insurance in International Arbitration: The Bermuda Form. Ms. Masters serves on the Litigation Steering Committee for the District of Columbia Bar and on the Committee on Admissions which administers and oversees applications and examinations for admission to the District of Columbia Bar. Ms. Masters was President of the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia from 2007-2008. She is a past Policyholder Chair of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association and continues to serve in the Section of Litigation's Leadership. She chaired the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee's Midyear CLE Meeting in 1999 and is a former Editor of the Committee's award-winning, bi-monthly journal, Coverage.
Ms. Masters received the National Association of Women Lawyer's 2005 Service Award for her work as Chair of NAWL's Amicus Committee. Ms. Masters was also recognized in the 2007, 2008 and 2009 editions of Washington DC Super Lawyers for Insurance Coverage Litigation, and by The Best Lawyers in America for Insurance Law in 2008 and 2009. Since 2005, Chambers & Partners USA has named Ms. Masters one of the country's leading lawyers in Insurance Law. Ms. Masters graduated in 1981 from Notre Dame Law School, where she was editor-in chief of the Journal of Legislation and a Scholar with the Thomas J. and Alberta White Center. She graduated from Georgetown University, cum laude, in 1977.
Bio to come
James R. Silkenat is a Partner in the New York office of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, where he coordinates the firm’s International Business Practice Group. His primary focus is on international joint ventures, mergers, and acquisitions, privatizations, project finance transactions (in both developed and developing countries) and private equity investment funds. He has extensive experience international energy transactions and is a former Legal Counsel at the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.
Mr. Silkenat’s recent representations have included: investors and fund managers in international investment funds; governments and bidders in privatization transactions; European banks in loan transactions in the U.S.; Asian corporations and financial institutions in cross-border acquisitions and financings; U.S. corporations in joint ventures overseas; U.S., Latin American, Asian and African companies in project financings, particularly in the energy sector; and U.S. and international technology companies in capital raising activities.
An active member of the American Bar Association, Mr. Silkenat has served as Chair of both the Section of International Law and the Section Officers Conference. In 1990, he was elected to the ABA House of Delegates and served as Chair of the New York Delegation in the House of Delegates from 2000-2009. He now represents the New York State Bar Association in the ABA House. He served on the ABA Board of Governors from 1994-1997 (including as a member of the Executive Committee) and has Chaired the American Bar Association’s Latin American Legal Initiatives Council and the ABA’s China Committee. He is also a former Chair of the ABA’s Museum of Law. In 2007 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the ABA’s Section of International Law. In addition to his responsibilities in the ABA, Mr. Silkenat is a Member of the House of Delegates of the New York State Bar Association and has served as Chair of the Lawyers Committee for International Human Rights (now Human Rights First). He is currently Chair of the Commission of the World Justice Project, a multidisciplinary effort to promote the Rule of Law around the world. In 2009, he received the Diversity Champion Award from the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Mr. Silkenat received his BA Degree from Drury College, his JD from the University of Chicago School of Law (where he was Editor of the University of Chicago Law Review) and his LLM (International Law) from New York University School of Law.
Mr. Silkenat is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute, has served as Fellow in the U.S. State Department Scholar/Diplomat Program, and was a Fellow of the National Endowment for the Humanities. A prolific writer, he has authored more than 100 articles on law and business for various national and international publications and is the Editor of numerous books including: The Imperial Presidency and the Consequences of 9/11: Lawyers React to the Global War on Terrorism (2007); The Law of International Insolvencies and Debt Restructurings (2006); The ABA Guide to International Business Negotiations (1994, 2004, and 2009 Editions); and The ABA Guide to Foreign Law Firms (1998, 1993, 1999 and 2004 Editions). He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and has served as National Chair of the Fellows. Mr. Silkenat is also a former Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. In 2000, he received the Outstanding Alumni Award for Career Achievement from Drury University.
Marsha E. Simms is a partner in Weil, Gotshal & Manges' Corporate department. She practices in the areas of debt financing & restructuring. She has extensive experience negotiating financing & restructuring documentation, and has participated in transactions in numerous industries, including retail, telecommunications, energy and manufacturing. She has also represented major lenders providing debtor-in-possession financing and exit financing to newly reorganized companies.
Ms. Simms has lectured in legal areas related to asset-based lending and debt financing for the Practicing Law Institute and ALI/ABA, in Africa for American Bar Association technical legal assistance projects as well as in areas related to women and minorities' participation in corporate law practice. She has been named one of the "World’s Leading Lawyers" in the area of banking and finance by Chambers Global for the years 2001 - 2007, and in 2003 was named one of America's Top Black Lawyers by Black Enterprise Magazine. Ms. Simms was recognized in Chambers USA - America’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 as a leader in the field of Banking and Finance.
Within the American Bar Association Business Law Section, Ms. Simms is a member of the Editorial Board of The Business Lawyer, a former member of the Editorial Board of Business Law Today, and was the former chair of the ABA Relations Committee and of the Secured Transactions Subcommittee, UCC Committee. She is a member of the ABA's Africa Law Initiative Council, and a member of the African Commercial Law Subcommittee of the International Law and Practice Section. She is a member of the Banking Law Committee and the Committee on Minorities in the Profession of the New York State Bar Association, and a member of the Audit Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She is a past President of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers and a member of The American Law Institute. She is past Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a life member of the Board of Trustees of Educational Broadcasting Corporation (Channel 13), a member of the Board of Directors of MK Level Playing Field Institute and a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association. Ms. Simms is a former trustee of the Stanford Alumni Association and was a member of the Stanford Law School Campaign Steering Committee.
Ms. Slovak is a partner in Schiff Hardin LLP's Labor and Employment Group, resident in the firm's Chicago office. She concentrates in labor and employment law on behalf of management and has extensive experience representing management in all facets of labor and employment relationships. Ms. Slovak litigates employment and labor claims in federal and state courts, as well as before administrative agencies. She represents employers in arbitrations, mediations, and collective bargaining negotiations. Her clients include retailers, universities, utilities, manufacturers, and assembly operations.
Ms. Slovak is the immediate-past Chair of the ABA's Section of Labor and Employment Law; she also served as the Section's liaison to the Commission on Women in the Profession from 2004-07. Ms. Slovak has served as the Employer Co-Chair of the ABA Committee on the Development of Law Under the National Labor Relations Act. Ms. Slovak serves on the Kenneth M. Piper Endowment Advisory Board of the Institute for Law and the Workplace in addition to serving as the Firm's representative to the Institute. She is a frequent author and lecturer on various employment law issues, and she has been an editor of The Developing Labor Law and is on the Advisory Board of the HR Advisor. Her many other related professional affiliations include membership on the Employment Law Committee of the National Retail Federation and service as Co-Chair and member of the Executive Committee of the Alliance for Women Committee of the Chicago Bar Association. She is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Ms. Slovak also is member of the boards for the Theatre School of DePaul University and Women Everywhere: Partners in Service Project, Inc. She has been elected as a Fellow of both the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation.
Ms. Slovak received her undergraduate degree (B.A., 1973) from Saint Louis University and her law degree (J.D., 1977) from the University of Chicago Law School.
Hon. Patricia A. Timmons-Goodson
Justice Patricia Timmons Goodson was appointed to the Supreme Court of North Carolina on February 1, 2006. In the 2006 November General Election, the voters elected her to a full eight year term. She is the first African American woman to sit on North Carolina's highest court.
Justice Timmons-Goodson earned a B.A. in Speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she also received her Juris Doctorate from the UNC School of Law in 1979. She began her legal career as an Assistant District Attorney for the Twelfth Prosecutorial District in North Carolina. She later left the district attorney's office to work as a legal aid attorney. In 1984 she was appointed to the district court bench where she was elected in 1986 and subsequently re-elected twice. In 1997, she was appointed judge for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and elected for a full term in 1998. Her election marked the first occasion an African-American woman was elected to an appellate court in North Carolina.
Justice Timmons Goodson is Co-Editor of the American Bar Association Judges Journal and Secretary of the Appellate Judges Conference of the American Bar Association. She is a member of the Central Selection Committee for the Morehead Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a previous Board Member of the UNC Chapel Hill General Alumni Association Board of Directors and the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Visitors. From 1990 to 2003, she co hosted and co produced a cable television program "Dimensions of Justice" in an effort to increase the confidence of citizens in the court system.
Justice Timmons-Goodson has been awarded the UNC Chapel Hill Distinguished Young Alumna Award, the North Carolina General Federation of Women Achievement Award, and the Gwyneth B. Davis Award, which is presented to persons who promote the participation of women attorneys in the legal profession and the rights of women under the law. She has also received honorary degrees from Johnson C. Smith University and St. Augustine's College. She is a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine and was named a Woman of Achievement by the General Federation of Women's Clubs. Other past awards include Save Our Schools (SOS), Cumberland County Outstanding Volunteer of the Year, Governor's Award; Service Award, Fayetteville Chapter of NAACP; Leadership Award, North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus; Minority Business and Professional League Legal/Justice Award; Citizen of the Year, Beta Chi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity; Citizen of the Year, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority; Order of the Valkyries (UNC-Chapel Hill's highest women's honorary recognizing scholarship and leadership); and the Order of the Old Well (UNC-Chapel Hill's honorary recognizing distinguished service to the university).
Her passion outside of the law is young people. Whether mentoring or speaking to youth organizations or classes, she seeks to encourage and influence our next generation of leaders.
