The Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award is presented annually to an exceptional woman business lawyer who has made significant contributions both to the profession and to the Business Law Section.
Named after the first woman to chair the ABA Business Law Section, the Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award is presented annually to an exceptional woman business lawyer who has made significant contributions to the profession and the Business Law Section.
2025 nominations are due Friday, February 21, 2025 and can be made via this nomination form.
The nominee should be a woman who:
has made significant contributions to the profession and the Business Law Section
has achieved professional excellence in her field and demonstrated a dedication to the work of the Section; and
has worked to advance opportunities for other women in the profession and the Section.
Contact Gina Dickinson ([email protected], 312-988-5316) with any questions.
The foundation of the Business Law Section’s reputation for excellence in its programs, committee work, and content rests, of course, on the contributions of our members. And it’s a source of Section pride that our members are recognized by the entire legal community for their unparalleled knowledge and expertise in their chosen legal practices. The recipient of this year’s Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award -- Karol Sparks -- possesses a legal expertise and professionalism that has not only made her a commanding presence in the law but she has also helped raise the stature of the Business Law Section’s Banking Committee.
Karol’s reputation as one of the country’s leading experts in banking law is an achievement that is rare in the practice of law. Her keen legal mind and 40 years of committing herself to understand the intricacies, subtleties, and precepts of banking law has inspired a generation of women to share her passion for legal scholarship and become outstanding lawyers.
A partner in the Financial Institutions Group of Barack Ferrazzano, LLP, in Chicago, Karol’s practice concentrates on corporate activities and regulatory issues of financial institutions. For decades, she has provided wise counsel to her banking clients on a variety of issues, and she is sought out for her legal analysis as well as her understanding of the practicalities behind the laws and regulations that govern financial institutions.
Karol served as Chair of the BLS’s Banking Law Committee in 1998–2002, and she has been an active member of the committee since 1985. She has served as an elected member of the Council of the Business Law Section of the ABA; and she also was chair of the BLS Publications Board.
The beneficiaries of Karol’s expertise goes well beyond her clients. Fortunately, Karol is a prolific and talented writer who is adept in explaining the intricacies of banking law to students, lawyers, academics, and professionals in the business community. Karol is the author of the ABA’s Keys to Banking Law and Banking Law Essentials; and the author of the legal treatise: Insurance Activities of Banks (published by Aspen Law & Business) and updated annually.
Karol’s long list of academic credentials is also impressive: from 2009 until 2013, she was an adjunct professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, having previously taught at the University of Iowa College of Law as an adjunct from 2001–2007. In January of 2014, she joined the Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law of the Boston University School of Law as a lecturer in law in the LL.M program.
Whether it is her work as a lawyer, lecturer, or author, Karol’s dedication to learning and then passing her banking knowledge and analysis to others in the profession highlights her importance as a woman in the legal profession as well as a worthy recipient of the Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award. Karol has created a body of work that will be a source of inspiration for young lawyers as they seek to learn – and master – the fundamentals of banking law.
