On June 11, 2024, I was honored and thrilled to be sworn in as President of the NYWBA at the NYWBA’s Annual Awards Dinner by the Hon. Jacqueline Silbermann.  Our award recipients that evening, the Hon. Dianne T. Renwick, the Presiding Justice of the New York Appellate Division, First Department, and the Center for Reproductive Rights, gave incredibly important and memorable speeches concerning women’s rights, including the right to choose.   The evening was very special and it was wonderful to see so many of our members mingling and enjoying the event.

I wanted to provide an update to my message in the June newsletter concerning the New York State Equal Rights Amendment.    The courts have ordered it to be put back on the November ballot!  If passed, the ERA would be added to the state’s constitution and provide extra protection for women’s rights in New York State, including constitutionally protecting a woman’s reproductive freedom here in New York.  But the NYS ERA does more than just protect women:  it prohibits discrimination based on a person’s ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, and sex — including their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, and pregnancy outcomes. While this Amendment is obviously not the only reason to vote this November, it is a critically important one to safeguard all of our rights here in New York State.

I want to call attention again to some of our critical committees doing the important work represented by the ERA:  our Reproductive Rights & Women’s Health Committee led by Meaghan Carey, Alexandra King and Lydia Devine, our Diversity and Equity & Inclusion Committee led by  Ernestine J. Mings, Crystal R. Villaseñor and the Hon. Kathleen C. Waterman-Marshall, and our LGBT Committee led by Claire Mooney.

Our mentoring circles – which meet approximately once a month – are back and running with a few new circles being added this fall.  The NYWBA’s mentoring circles are a bit different than most mentoring opportunities, which is why they are called circles.  They consist of senior and junior attorneys, in different stages of their careers and in different areas of the law.  The idea is that not only can junior attorneys learn and grow from talking with more senior attorneys – though of course they can and do – but that senior attorneys can learn and grow from talking to more junior attorneys.  Thanks to the co-chairs of the Mentoring Committee, Melissa Ephron-Mandel and the Hon. Carmen Pacheco.  To join a mentoring circle, or learn more about them, please email the co-chairs (all emails are on the NYWBA website).

I must also mention again our Newsletter Committee – the ones who put out this very newsletter you are holding – led by Olivia Sohmer-Rosenbaum and Isiris Issac.  They have been doing a fantastic job but they depend on you – our members – to provide articles and other items of interest to be included in the monthly newsletter.  Please submit your articles to newsletter@nywba.org.

On July 16, 2024, the NYWBA, in partnership with the New York City Bar, again put on our popular summer program, the annual Martha E. Gifford Summer Program – “What’s It REALLY Like to Practice Law as a Woman”.  We had a distinguished panel that discussed some of the important issues facing women in the law.  My thanks go to the organizers of this wonderful event, the Hon. Lisa A. Sokoloff, Crystal Villaseñor, Melissa G. Glassman and Ernestine Mings.  More on this wonderful event is in the article written by Crystal Villaseñor inside this newsletter.

While I am writing this on a summer’s day in August, this newsletter is coming out in September and we have an exciting fall planned.  First, on September 17, 2024, we start our 2024-2025 calendar year with our Annual Membership Reception at Blank Rome LLP, which continues to host us in their beautiful offices.  This cocktail reception – open to members and those considering membership alike – is free but you must RSVP to attend.  To do so, please visit our website, www.nywba.org.  This is a wonderful evening for meeting other members and learning about our numerous committees and the benefits of membership.  Please feel free to bring along your colleagues who may benefit from membership – we love new members (we love all members)!  The Membership Reception also features our NYWBA’s Annual Period Drive to help eliminate period poverty.  We ask those attending to bring feminine hygiene products or drugstore gift cards.  This year’s donations will be given to the Manhattan Family Justice Center.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Also, on the calendar – on September 19, 2024 – is an important event from the New York Women’s Bar Association Foundation.  The Foundation is hosting the authors of the book, ”The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America”, Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer.  This is an in-person event being held at Boies Schiller at 55 Hudson Yards.  Please check the NYWBA website for more information and to RSVP.

Many of our committees have CLEs, events or meetings scheduled for September.  The Trusts & Estates Committee, co-chaired by Tzipora Zelmanowitz, Loretta A. Ippolito and Antonia J. Martinez, is holding a CLE on International Estate Planning on Monday, September 16 from 5:30 – 6:30, on Zoom.  The CLE, as with all of the NYWBA CLEs, is free for NYWBA and WBASNY members.

Our Animal Law Committee, co-chaired by Lydia Antoncic and Dana Capone, is holding a meeting on Monday, September 9^th at 1 p.m. on Zoom.  Our Elder Law & Disabilities Committee, co-chaired by Lissett Ferreira, Maria F. Galante, Antonia J. Martinez and Sabrina E. Morrissey, is holding a Lunch & Learn program on Tuesday, September 10 at 1 p.m., also on Zoom.  Information on how to RSVP for each of these meetings and the CLE is on the NYWBA website.

Finally, the NYWBA membership year began on June 1, 2024.  I encourage all members to renew now if they haven’t already.  The above is just a sampling of the many programs that will be held this year and that are one of the benefits of membership.

Jocelyn Jacobson