Five female lawyers with careers spanning the judiciary, academia, nonprofit leadership, private practice and corporate law will receive the 2024 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award from the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession. The award was established in 1991 to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of female lawyers who have achieved professional excellence within their specialty and paved the way for others.
April 08, 2024 Top Legal News of the Week
Women's Commission announces 2024 Margaret Brent honorees
The awards will be presented at a ceremony and reception at 3-5:30 p.m. CDT on Aug. 4, during the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. For ticket and registration information, please visit ambar.org/annual.
“We applaud the achievements of this amazing group of women, who have and will continue to inspire all of us in the legal profession including the next generation of women lawyers,” said Karol Corbin-Walker, chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession.
The 2024 Margaret Brent Award honorees are:
- Dolores Atencio, visiting scholar at University of Denver Latinx Center, Sturm College of Law in Denver, Colorado
- Pamila J. Brown, associate judge in the Howard County District Court in Ellicott City, Maryland
- Estelle H. Rogers, retired public interest lawyer, Forestville, California
- Gina Shishima, chief strategy and operations partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP U.S. in Austin, Texas
- Barbara Wall, current board member and former chief legal and operating officer of Gannett Co., Inc., in Washington, D.C.
The award is named for Margaret Brent, the first woman to practice law in America. She was involved in 124 court cases over eight years and won every case. In 1648, Brent formally demanded a “vote and voice” in the Maryland Assembly, which the governor denied.
Previous recipients of the award include U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.