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Influential and powerful women in the law will take center stage at the Women’s Leadership Conference on Feb. 20 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. New Jersey State Bar Association President Jeralyn L. Lawrence will moderate a panel on what it means to be a leader and how women attorneys can obtain those skills to serve themselves, their clients, their practice and their communities. Guest speakers include Supreme Court justices, jurists, bar leaders and renowned soccer player Christie Pearce Rampone, and will feature a special conversation with U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas. Hear from women leaders in the bar—in their own words—on careers, ...

Diana Manning is the first woman to serve as managing partner at Bressler, Amery & Ross. Joining a trailblazing group of women at the helm of large law firms in the state is meaningful and exciting, but Manning said she knows she carries a heavy burden. The fact that she is a woman means her success and performance will be judged differently than that of her male predecessors. Because of the weight of that mantle, she also firmly believes “I have a solemn obligation to bring people up behind me.” To other women thinking about seeking out leadership or coming up in the ranks, Manning offered honest advice: “Raise your hand and throw your ...

A powerhouse group of women reflected their paths to success in the law during “Know Your Worth: Recognizing and Communicating your Value in the Legal Profession and Beyond,” a program that took place Wednesday morning during the 2021 New Jersey State Bar Association Virtual Annual Meeting. The panel discussion — co-sponsored by the NJSBA Diversity Committee and the Women in the Profession Section — was moderated by Cheyne R. Scott, partner at Chasan Lamparello Mallon & Cappuzzo and included NJSBA Immediate Past President Evelyn Padin, NJSBA Trustee Tracy Thompson, NJSBA Trustee Susan Nardone, Former American Bar Association President Paulette Brown and ...

At the New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) Women’s Leadership Conference last week, which celebrated the legacy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a panel of five sitting and former New Jersey Supreme Court justices reflected on the enormous changes that women in the legal profession have experienced since the noted jurist entered the law. Nearly 300 people attended the virtual conference, titled “I Dissent: Celebrating the Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Power of Speaking Up,” which was sponsored by the NJSBA Women in the Profession Section (WIPS) and the Diversity Committee. Susan L. Nardone, chair of WIPS and a director ...

Five of New Jersey’s Supreme Court women justices will talk about forging their career paths and learning to speak up at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s (NJSBA) Women’s Leadership Conference this month. The virtual conference, titled “I Dissent: Celebrating the Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Power of Speaking Up,” is sponsored by the NJSBA and its Women in the Profession Section (WIPS) and the Diversity Committee. It will take place Jan. 13. A highlight of the event will feature Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, Justice Anne Patterson, Justice Fabiana Pierre-Louis, retired Justice Virginia A. Long and former Justice Helen E. Hoens. “The ...

Note: This is an edited excerpt from an article written by Karen Stringer in the Fall 2020 Women in the Profession newsletter. To read the newsletter, click here ( login required ). With a surge of women-owned law firms opening in New Jersey and across the country in the last 10-15 years, I wanted to determine the driving forces behind this trend to see what, if anything, these firms were doing differently. On my quest, I was lucky enough to have had some amazing and thought-provoking discussions with a number of courageous, intelligent women who have bucked BigLaw, ventured out on their own, and started their own thriving, multidisciplinary law firms. These ...

The ability of women to advance in the legal profession remains grim, and it could get worse as reports suggest women attorneys will suffer more than men attorneys in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. A panel of national thought leaders examined issues specific to women in the profession at the “ABA Study/Women in the Business of Law” program Friday at the 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. NJSBA Secretary Christine A. Amalfe moderated the discussion. “There is a stampede out of the profession by the time they get to 50,” said Roberta Liebenberg, a co-author of the American Bar Association’s landmark study “Walking Out the Door.” “It’s death by 1,000 cuts that ...

NEW JERSEY NO FAULT PIP POLICY COVERAGE: LIMIT OR NO LIMIT? As a result of a March 26, 2019 decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court, injured motorists are now barred from making claims against their tortfeasors for any medical expenses beyond their chosen, PIP policy coverage limit. [1] In a narrow, 3-2 decision, the Supreme Court Reversed the Appellate Division’s Opinion in the consolidated appeal of Haines v. Taft and Little v. Nishimura , which permitted plaintiffs to introduce evidence of medical expenses in excess of their chosen personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, as economic damages against their tortfeasors. [2] The ...

Fully-focused women rainmakers assess what needs to be done, and then set about doing it. Instead of ‘breaking a glass ceiling’, they build a new facility with a new ceiling. For them, “no” is not an option and fear is left in the dust. What follows is a 30-day challenge in six words. Only six words? These are not just any words, but six powerful words that successful women rainmakers have incorporated in their daily practices. Week One – Learn and Grow . If you cease to embrace new ideas, concepts, new ways of doing things in your business, then just go sit in your rocking chair and rock on. In our competitive workplace and ...

After spending nearly two decades working in law firms, I have witnessed and experienced enough discrimination and recrimination to know from the front row the many challenges women lawyers face in law firms today. Still a Way to Go According to a 2012 National Association for Law Placement (NALP) survey on the demographics of equity, we should not be surprised to learn that 64% of male partners are equity partners while 47% of both women and minority partners were equity partners, a differential of 17 to18 percentage points. More dramatically perhaps, among equity partners, about 85% are men, 15% are women, and fewer than 5% are racial/ethnic minorities. ...

Were you born to be a marketing rock star? When you were in law school, were you thinking “I can’t wait to market myself as a lawyer?” Chances are no to both of those questions. Guess we could say that marketing is still one of the little dirty secrets to some lawyers when they realize that the best passage to career fulfillment, independence and financial security is to develop their own clients. Whether or not someone requires a certain number of “marketing” hours from you a month or if you are expressly advised not to worry about getting your own clients, remember you read it here first: if you are in private practice, you are in business ...