ABA News - Four women attorneys to receive prestigious Margaret Brent Award

Ginger Ehn Lew, managing director and general counsel of Cube Hydro Partners LLC in Naples, Fla., is a recipient of the American Bar Association's 2016 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. Lew will receive the award, given annually by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, on Sunday, Aug. 7, at the Moscone West Convention Center at the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco. In addition to Lew, the 2016 award recipients include Roberta D. Liebenberg, Nancy E. O'Malley Judith W. Rogers and Judith A. Scott. "We are honored to recognize this spectacular group of women. We applaud their achievements, knowing that their efforts will inspire a new generation of women lawyers," said Michele Coleman Mayes, chair of the ABA Commission on Women, of this year's Brent winners. Previous honorees include U.S. Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Lew has been leaving her mark on the corporate and government sectors for more than 40 years. From 1994-96, she served as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Commerce, acting as the highest-ranking female Asian Pacific American appointee of a cabinet agency. She then became the chief operating officer for the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 1998, Lew took a break from government service and started her own venture capital fund, focusing on projects led by women and minorities. Rejoining government in 2009, she served as senior counselor to the White House National Economic Council until 2011. Lew worked as the primary author of policies focused on the inclusion of women in domestic and international economic life. ----- Judith A. Scott, general counsel for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and senior partner at James & Hoffman, PC, is a recipient of the 2016 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. For more than 40 years, Scott has held key positions in labor unions in both the private and public sectors. She has served as in-house legal counsel to the United Auto Workers of America; the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees; the United Mine Workers; and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, as one of the first women general counsel to a major international labor union. Since 1997, Scott has served as general counsel to the SEIU, the largest private sector union in the U.S. Throughout her career, Scott has been at the center of many of the most challenging issues within the labor movement. She has given special attention to issues facing women workers, including pregnancy discrimination and income inequality. Scott also is co-author of the book, "Organizing and the Law, 4th Ed." (BNA 2000). ----- Nancy E. O'Malley, district attorney at the Alameda County District Attorney's Office in Oakland, Calif., is also a recipient of the 2016 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. O'Malley is recognized nationally for her work involving violence against women, sexual assault, interpersonal abuse, human exploitation and trafficking and domestic abuse. She has expanded the role of district attorney by adding a holistic approach to prevention and healing, and implemented programs to remedy the social ills that lead to criminal behavior. O'Malley was one of the first to identify domestic human trafficking as a pervasive problem involving foster children, runaways and other disadvantaged children. Her innovative and widely successful programs have been replicated by other district attorneys' offices throughout the country. O'Malley puts an emphasis on inspiring new women lawyers with the development of programs for college and high school students. ----- Judith W. Rogers, circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is another recipient of the 2016 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. In 1973, Rogers helped draft and implement the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. She then served as corporation counsel for the District of Columbia, one of the first female chief lawyers for a jurisdiction. Rogers joined the District of Columbia Court of Appeals when she was appointed in 1983 and became chief judge four years later. She was one of the first women to preside as a chief judge of any state supreme court. President Bill Clinton nominated Rogers to the U.S. Court of Appeals in 1994. In this position, she has ensured that her law clerks reflect diversity of gender, ethnic background and sexual orientation. Rogers has received multiple awards throughout her career and was recently appointed to the rules committee of the U.S. Judicial Conference. ----- Roberta "Bobbi" D. Liebenberg, senior partner at Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C. in Philadelphia, is a third recipient of the American Bar Association's 2016 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. Liebenberg focuses her legal work on class actions, antitrust and complex commercial litigation, and white collar criminal defense. She has been a leader for the plaintiff class in numerous complex antitrust and consumer class action cases. Liebenberg is also the coauthor of the groundbreaking report on women as lead counsel, "First Chairs at Trial: More Women Need Seats at the Table" (ABA 2015). Liebenberg has worked throughout her career to help further the success of other women. She currently chairs DirectWomen, an organization dedicated to increasing the representation of women lawyers on corporate boards. This is one of the many leadership positions she has held in national, state and local organizations devoted to creating equality for women in the legal profession. The ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, established in 1991, honors outstanding women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence in their area of specialty and have actively paved the way to success for others. The award is named for Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in America. Brent arrived in the colonies in 1638, and was involved in 124 court cases in more than eight years, winning every case. In 1648, she formally demanded a vote and voice in the Maryland Assembly, which the governor denied. Published: Tue, Jul 19, 2016