Mark your calendars! On September 28, Washington Women Lawyers (WWL) will host its Annual Leadership Symposium and Awards Dinner at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center.
Building on the momentum of last year’s event, where WWL explored leadership and women in law, this year’s day-long CLE, “Equal Access to Client and Career Development: Skills for the 21st Century Attorney,” will focus on skills building and career advancement for the female attorney. Some of the area’s leading practitioners will present two concurrent tracks of workshops throughout the day. The WSBA has approved 7 CLE credits, including 2 ethics credits.
Highlighting this year’s event will be luncheon speaker Prof. Joan C. Williams of U.C. Hastings, a prize-winning author and nationally recognized expert on work/family issues. Williams founded and directs the Center for WorkLife Law and the Project for Attorney Retention. According to a recent New York Times article, she enjoys “something approaching rock-star status” among lawyers and scholars who work on legal issues relating to employees with family responsibilities.
Williams’ luncheon discussion on “The Dollars and ‘Sense’ of Balanced Hours” will explore how balanced-hours programs affect revenue generation, overhead and professional development, and how they can give firms a competitive edge in recruiting, business development and client service. This discussion should be of great interest to law firm managers and administrators who seek creative ideas on attracting and retaining quality lawyers, as well as to attorneys at all levels.
In addition, Williams will discuss the concrete steps needed to implement the Project for Attorney Retention’s best-practice “balanced hours” model and will provide practical tips both for lawyers and law firms on what steps they can take to make flexibility a reality in their workplaces. The CLE will be immediately followed by a cocktail reception and WWL’s Annual Awards Dinner. The dinner will provide a time to celebrate WWL’s accomplishments over the past year, welcome our incoming board and especially honor the following award recipients:
- The Honorable Bobbe Bridge, Passing the Torch Award;
- Ellen Dial and Dean Kellye Testy, President’s Award;
- Norm Maleng, WWL Foundation Award; and
- Carla Lee, State Board Member of the Year.
The dinner is routinely attended by judges and lawyers from throughout the state. Don’t miss this opportunity to join them in what promises to be a uniquely entertaining and inspiring event.
For a copy of the CLE brochure and registration form, please visit www.wwl.org, or contact Kristin Perry Martinez at kristin.martinez@klgates.com.
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