According to the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation, there are 7.2 million majority-owned, privately-held, women-owned businesses in the United States. Here’s a nod to women making strides in the legal business world.
Karol Lyn Newman, an Energy Advisory partner at McDermott Will & Emery, was recently honored at the inagural “Americas Women in Business Law Awards” in May for her work in the field of energy regulatory law. Newman is playing a key role in helping her firm grow a highly-ranked energy practice.
Meg Boulware of Boulware & Waloir is a patent lawyer who tried the first validity and infringement arbitration of a U.S. patent before the International Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to serve as the inaugural Chair of the Patent Public Advisory Committee for the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Brooksley Born, former chair of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, has served as a member of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions. Born has received numerous awards, including the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation’s Profile in Courage Award “presented annually to public servants who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences” for her efforts as chair of the CFTC to urge that the over-the-counter derivatives market should be subject to federal oversight and regulation. The failure to regulate that market is now seen to be a major cause of recent financial crisis in the United States.
Hilary Rodham Clinton, although controversial, holds considerable influence as Secretary of State. The Yale graduate, — cofounder the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families — was the first female partner at Rose Law Firm and the first woman to serve as the chair of Legal Services Corporation. Clinton has worked for healthcare and adoption reform and women’s rights issues.
Nancy Duff Campbell has fought passionately for women’s rights over the last four decades, particularly those involving the legal issues of low-income individuals, children and single mothers. As the co-president and founder of the National Women’s Law Center, she brings legal aid, advice and comfort to a wider audience than a private practice would — not to mention leaving behind a legacy of social justice. Unsurprisingly, this spitfire has received a plethora of awards and honors for her work, most notably a Lifetime Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services after successfully campaigning for better child support enforcement.
Betsy Plevan, partner in the labor & employment department at Proskaur and co-head of both the International Labor & Employment Group and Class/Collective Action Group, has built her practice handling labor and employment litigation and recently completed a two-year term as President of the New York City Bar. Plevan is frequently quoted in national newspapers, legal and other trade publications and has appeared on television to discuss employment issues — especially sexual harassment suits.
