The Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice will honor Kay H. Hodge, a partner at the Boston law firm of Stoneman, Chandler & Miller LLP, with its Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service in an online presentation Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at 6 p.m. EST a week before the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans.
December 05, 2022 Civil Rights and Social Justice
Kay H. Hodge to receive ABA Robert F. Drinan Award
The Father Robert F. Drinan Award for Distinguished Service honors those who have strengthened the section’s mission to provide leadership to the legal profession.
Hodge has built a national reputation as a management-side employment lawyer while serving the legal profession as a bar leader. Her 2007 induction into the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel recognized her legal acumen. Hodge frequently speaks to various attorney and human resources groups and provides training to managers and supervisors in all areas of labor and employment law and supervisory compliance issues.
“Boston, Mass should be proud! This city is the home of two legal icons: Father Robert F. Drinan and Kay H. Hodge,” said Juan R. Thomas, chair of the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice. “Kay embodies everything Father Drinan represented. Kay, like Father Drinan, has dedicated her life to public service, a continued commitment to the legal profession and has been a zealous advocate to advancing the causes of human rights, the rule of law and civil rights.”
Hodge has been a member of the ABA since 1977. She is a member of the ABA House of Delegates and currently serves as a representative of the Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section. She is currently the First Circuit Representative on the ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, the management co-chair of the State and Local Bargaining Committee of the Section on Labor & Employment Law, and a member of the Awards Committee of the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division.
“I am still stunned that I could deserve this award,” said Hodge. “I have vivid memories of Father Drinan and his passion for IRR’s (Individual Rights and Responsibilities, now CRSJ) work. He would walk the halls of the ABA Midyear and Annual meetings with brochures about joining IRR and stop people to talk to them about joining the section. I am so humbled to receive an award named for him.”
Hodge received her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and her J.D. and LL.M in Taxation from Boston University School of Law.
Thomas added, “Kay’s life, like Father Drinan’s, demonstrates her lifelong commitment to professional excellence, integrity and service. I suspect Father Drinan is joining the members of CRSJ in honoring this ‘Daughter of New England’ and would say ‘in her, he is well pleased.’”
Related links:
- The ABA Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice
- Click here for a photo of Kay H. Hodge
- To register to attend the award presentation, click here
- Past recipients of the Father Robert F. Drinan Award
