Search

Women in the Profession Committee

About

The Committee on Women in the Profession concerns itself with issues related to the careers and advancement of women in the practice of law in the Philadelphia area. It monitors existing conditions and trends, conducts special programs and makes recommendations that aid in the achievement of its goals, including but not limited to, the adoption of model employee policies and any amendments thereto. In addition, the Committee considers the impact on the profession of the increasing numbers of women attorneys.

To apply for Committee membership online, click here.

2010 Co-Chairs

Kim Ruch-Alegant, Esq.
Alegant Law, P.C.
67 Buck Road, Suite B-48
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Phone: (215) 354-0057
kalegant@alegantlaw.com

Nikki Johnson-Huston, Esq.
City of Philadelphia Law Department
1515 Arch Street, 15th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Phone: (215) 683-5289
Nikki.johnson-huston@phila.gov




Dean JoAnne Epps Receives 2009 Sandra Day O’Connor Award

JoAnne Epps, Dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law, received the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Sandra Day O’Connor Award at its Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon on June 9 at the Bellevue, Broad and Walnut streets.

Established in 1993, the Sandra Day O’Connor Award is conferred annually on a female attorney who has demonstrated superior legal talent, achieved significant legal accomplishments and has furthered the advancement of women both professionally and in the community. Epps also delivered the Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Memorial Public Interest Lecture at this quarterly event.

A leading scholar in the areas of trial advocacy and criminal procedure, Epps took over as dean at Temple Law in July. Prior to assuming this role, Epps was a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Before joining Temple, Epps was a deputy city attorney for the City of Los Angeles and an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is a frequent speaker on evidence and advocacy, both domestically and internationally.

In June 2007, Epps traveled to London as the only law professor member of a nine-person American team that provided training to Sudanese lawyers representing victims of the Darfur crisis. In 2005 and 2006, she taught jury trial advocacy to more than 20,000 members of the Japanese Bar Association in anticipation of the re-institution of jury trials in criminal cases in Japan.

The O'Connor Award 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.

The award has previously been presented to:

  • Lynn A. Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
  • The late Juanita Kidd Stout, former justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
  • Deborah R. Willig, first woman Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Professor Marina Angel, of the Temple University Beasley School of Law faculty
  • Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Dolores K. Sloviter (former Chief Judge)
  • U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody
  • Leslie Anne Miller, first woman president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Lila G. Roomberg of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP
  • The late Judge Judith J. Jamison
  • Ellen T. Greenlee, chief defender of the Defender Association of Philadelphia * Former Chancellor Audrey C. Talley
  • U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Marjorie O. Rendell
  • Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Phyllis W. Beck
  • Roberta D. Pichini.

Board Adopts Call to Action and Best Practice Resolution

The Bar Association's Board of Governors adopted at its September 2007 meeting a Resolution endorsing the Call to Action and Best Practices for the Retention
and Promotion of Women Attorneys.