This is my final message as the President of the New York Women’s Bar Association.  What a year it has been. We have had some amazing events and good times while facing unprecedented attacks on our profession.  But I am leaving this association in good, actually great, hands.  I welcome our incoming NYWBA Officers who were elected at our Annual Meeting held on April 24, 2025.  My warmest congratulations to 202502026 President Lissett Ferreira; Vice Presidents Vivian Rivera, the Hon. Crystal R. Villaseñor, and Meaghan Carey; Treasurer Judith White; Recording Secretary Melissa Glassman; and Corresponding Secretary Tara Diamond.   I know that Lissett Ferreira will be an amazing president; she has already served as a Vice President and the Treasurer as well as being a co-chair of the Elder Law and Disabilities Committee. I look forward to continuing to be active and involved in this truly wonderful organization.

Our Annual Meeting once again included an amazing CLE, this year for the Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias credit, entitled “Being Intrepid Women”, which featured as the speakers two amazing women judges: the Hon. Carmen A. Pacheco, Supervising Judge of Kings County Civil Court, and the Hon. Betty Lugo-Martinez, Judge of New York Civil Court assigned to Bronx County Civil Court.  These two regaled the attendees with stories of their experiences early in their careers and now on the bench as well as providing some practical advice for women attorneys.

On that same day – but at lunchtime – the Solo and Small Law Firm Committee, co-chaired by Gale Bader and Sabrina Morrissey put on a presentation on “Basics of Artificial Intelligence and Chat GPT” with presenter Kathy D’Agostino.

On May 19 the NYWBA Trusts and Estates Committee, co-chaired by Tzipora Zelmanowitz. Loretta A. Ippolito, and Antonia J. Martinez, is presenting a CLE on “Surrogate’s Court for Non-Surrogate’s Court Attorneys”.  Speakers are Regina Kiperman and Bret Cahn, and the CLE will be moderated by Tzipora Zelmanowitz.  Please register on our website.

I would like to encourage our members to attend the WBASNY Convention in Watkins Glen from May 15 to May 18, 2025.  It is a chance to mingle with members of other chapters from around the state and to celebrate our own the Hon. Lisa A. Sokoloff, who will be honored at the convention with the Judith S. Kaye Access to Justice Award.  We hope many of you will be there. Details are on the WBASNY website (www.wbasny.org).Last but certainly not least, our Annual Awards and Installation Dinner celebrating the NYWBA’s 90^th Anniversary is coming up on June 9, 2025.  The dinner will be held at the fabulous Tribeca 360, where it has been held for years.  Please do not forget to sign up as you don’t want to miss this year’s dinner.  Our President’s Special Award will be given to four deserving recipients who each have contributed to women’s rights for many years:  U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney; Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin; Planned Parenthood of Greater New York and Safe Horizon.  The evening will include a silent auction to benefit the NYWBA Foundation.  Please register on our website for this wonderful dinner.

As I turn the gavel over to Lissett Ferreira I want to remind everyone that we still have so much work to do to protect the gains previously made and now under attack.  But working together we remain strong.  I am truly honored to have served as your President this past year.

Jocelyn Jacobson