Annual meeting
ABA Honors 5 Women Pioneers with Margaret Brent Awards
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The Commission on Women in the Profession will honor five women whose careers span all corners of the legal profession at the first live Margaret Brent awards ceremony since 2019.
The committee created the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award in 1991 to recognize female lawyers who excel in their fields and pave the way for other women. The award is named after Margaret Brent, who arrived in the colonies in 1638 and is recognized as the first female lawyer in North America.
“We are honored to recognize this spectacular group of women who have been pioneers throughout their careers,” Maureen Mulligan, chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession, said in a press release. “They are role models for all women in the legal profession and we look forward to celebrating with them in person.”
The Margaret Brent Awards Ceremony begins Sunday at 3 p.m. as part of the 2022 ABA Annual Meeting in Chicago. The event was last in person at the 2019 ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco; the ceremonies were virtual in 2020 and 2021.
Tickets can be purchased upon registration for the 2022 ABA Annual Meeting.
MEET THE EARLIER
Michelle Goodwin
Laguna Beach, California
Goodwin is a chancellor professor at the University of California at the Irvine School of Law and founding director of the Center for Biotechnology and Global Health Policy. She is also a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and host of Ms. magazines About Michele Goodwin’s Problems podcasting. She helped shape the health law field and led the country’s first ABA-accredited health law program; and she founded the first law center that focused on race and bioethics.
She was a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Issues in Organ Donor Intervention Research. She was appointed an observer by the Uniform Law Commission for the review of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and became the first woman to be elected Secretary General of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. She graduated from Boston College Law School.
Christina L. Martinic
Chicago
Martini is the global head of McDermott Will & Emery’s Trademark Prosecution and Controversy Practice. She focuses on (inter)national trademark and copyright, domain name, internet, social media, advertising, unfair competition and entertainment law. She is a member of her company’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity and the Committee on Gender Diversity. She is also the co-host of the WGN Radio show Legal confrontation and host and producer of the legal podcast Paradigm shift.
She is a co-founder and board member of Hispanic Majority, an organization that empowers the next generation of Latino leaders. She is also a Chicago board member of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law and previously served on the board of directors for the Better Government Association. She co-chaired the International Trademark Association’s Saul Lefkowitz Moot Court competition for the Midwest. She graduated from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Laura J. Schumacher
North Chicago, Illinois
As vice president, external affairs and chief legal officer of biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, Schumacher is responsible for business development, legal and government affairs, health economic outcomes research, brand and communications, and corporate social responsibility. Before splitting from Abbott, a multinational health company also located near Chicago, AbbVie served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary. She has led business development and early stage ventures and collaborations at both companies.
She helped create the AbbVie Foundation, which aims to empower communities through philanthropy and unite its employees’ donations to nonprofits worldwide. She serves on the board of trustees of Ronald McDonald House Charities. She also serves on the board of directors of General Dynamics Corp., a global aerospace and defense company; and CrowdStrike Holdings, a cybersecurity technology company. She is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Myra C. Selby
Indianapolis
Selby was the first woman and first African American to serve as an assistant judge on the Indiana Supreme Court. While serving as a court of law from 1995 to 1999, she authored more than 100 majority opinions and was appointed chair of the Commission on Race and Gender Equality. She is now a partner at Ice Miller and focuses her practice on corporate internal investigations, appeals, compliance consulting, complex litigation, risk management, and strategic and other legal advice.
She is the direct chair of the ABA dispute resolution section. She is the current chair of the Indiana Supreme Court Commission on Race and Gender Fairness and a former member of the Commission on Equity and Access in the Court System. She previously served as director of health policy for the state of Indiana and was recently elected to the American Health Law Association’s fellows class. She graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law.
Wendy Shiba
Altadena, California
Shiba, director of the Red Bee Group, previously served as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary of KB Home. She also served as senior vice president, chief legal officer and secretary of PolyOne Corp.; and as vice president, secretary, and assistant general counsel of Bowater Inc. managed compliance and risk management; health and safety; and government and public affairs, among others in these roles.
Shiba is a member of the ABA House of Representatives and the Standing Committee on Bar Activities and Services. She is vice chair of the section on civil rights and social justice commission for women’s rights. She is a past president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association and co-founder of the Collaborative Bar Leadership Academy, a joint initiative of the ABA, NAPABA, and several other bar associations. She graduated from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Also see:
ABAJournal.com: “Meet the winners of the Margaret Brent Award 2021”
ABAJournal.com: “Meet the recipients of the Margaret Brent Award 2020”
ABAJournal.com: “ABA honors 5 women for their services to the legal profession”
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