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Our Mission
Women have made great strides in the legal profession and at McCarter & English — but more work remains. Dedication and hard work are essential, but success also requires working together and building relationships. By mentoring young lawyers, working collegially among our peers, providing outstanding service to our clients, and serving the communities in which we work and live, there is no limit to what we can accomplish both professionally and personally. McCarter & English's Women's Initiative: Building Positive RelationshipsSM.
In The News
McCarter & English's Women's Initiative Volunteers With Heading Home
McCarter & English's Women's Initiative Joins 85 Broads
Upcoming Events
TBA
Publications
In the kNOW Newsletters
Spring 2010
Winter 2010
Fall 2009
Spring 2009
Articles
The Importance of Business Development for Women Associates and Junior Partners; by Stephanie Cohen, The Woman Advocate, Volume 15, Number 2, Winter 2010.
Brochures Women at McCarter & English
Women's Initiative Brochure
Steering Committee
Christine A. Lydon
Director of Professional Personnel
Stephanie J. Cohen
Partner, Newark
Alitia Faccone
Partner, Newark
Leigh A. Gilligan
Partner, Boston
Grace S. Kurdian
Partner, New York
Joann M. Lytle
Partner, Philadelphia
Katharine L. Mayer
Partner, Wilmington
Josefina Martinez
Partner, Boston
Jane K. Warren
Partner, Hartford
McCarter is proud to support the following associations:
American Bar Association, Women Rainmakers Committee
Career Women's Initiative
Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW Network)
Executive Women of New Jersey (EWNJ)
Financial Women's Association (FWA)
Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders Lawyer Referral Service (GLAD)
International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC)
Lambda Legal (Connecticut)
Love Makes a Family
National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC)
National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL)
National Lesbian and Gay Law Association (NGLA)
New England Women in Real Estate (NEWIRE)
New Jersey State Bar Association, Women in the Profession Committee
New Jersey Women Lawyers Association (NJWLA)
Society for Women Environmental Professionals
The Boston Club for Executive Women (Boston)
Women of Means (Boston)
Women's Venture Fund
Giving Back to the Community
Citizen Schools
Since 2008, the Women's Initiative has partnered with Citizen Schools to provide Newark middle school students with an after-school mock trial "apprenticeship." Every fall and spring for 10 weeks, a group of students visits McCarter's Newark office and volunteer attorneys teach them about trial basics, public speaking, legal analysis, and appropriate courtroom behavior. At the culmination of each semester, the students participate in a mock trial, presided over by a real judge, and show off the skills they have learned. Past attendees of the mock trial include Newark Mayor Cory Booker, former Municipal Court Chief Judge Julien X. Neals, Municipal Court Acting Chief Judge Richard Nunes, and Councilman Ron Rice from the West Ward of Newark.
The Community FoodBank of New Jersey
On Tuesday July 12th, McCarter & English once again descended on the Community FoodBank of New Jersey in Hillside to participate in the FoodBank's Tuesday night open volunteer program. Led by Newark Managing Partner, Mike Guariglia, approximately 40 attorneys, summer associates, staff members and members of their families spent the evening sorting and packaging food and household goods for the organizations and individuals that the Foodbank supplies in our local community. This was the second such trip to the FoodBank by McCarter. In March of this year, 25 McCarter attorneys volunteered their time as part of the National Association of Women Lawyers' Annual Night of Giving. The March event was attended by a total of close 100 attorneys and judges as one of a series of regional events sponsored by NAWL aimed to serve the communities in which we work and practice and to bring awareness to the issues faced by people in those communities. The event proved to be so popular that the McCarter attorneys in attendance in March decided then and there that they would schedule a return trip and open up the event to anyone who wanted to participate. After a couple of hours at the FoodBank, you can't help but be infused with a sense of community spirit and pride. McCarter associate Kathleen Keating also attended the July 12th event with her children: "The FoodBank staff gave simple instructions and empowered us, young and old alike, with a sense of purpose. I was proud to see my young teenagers enjoying the hard work and was grateful they were able to experience the McCarter traditions of teamwork and the joy of a good job, well done." As a result of the overwhelmingly positive response, it looks like a new McCarter tradition has begun.
"At McCarter & English we are proud of the Firm's long history of supporting women's equal rights under the law and in the legal profession dating back as early as our successful representation of Annie Oakley at the turn of the last century. We acknowledge the contributions that the women of McCarter & English — both past and present — have made to the growth and success of our Firm. From the hiring of Rosalie B. Cooper (who later became a Superior Court Judge) as the first female associate in 1953 to the elevation of Mary L. Cooper (who later became a U.S. District Court Judge) as the Firm's first female partner in 1980 to the appointment of Lois Van Deusen as the Firm's first full-time managing partner in 2002, we have been firmly committed to the advancement of women at the Firm and in the legal profession. McCarter & English has long understood that greater representation of women in the Firm as well as in its leadership is essential not only for equality, but also to enable us to provide innovative solutions for our diverse clients. Recent studies by Catalyst and the National Association of Women Lawyers have confirmed what McCarter & English has known all along — that mentoring and networking are critical to the advancement of women attorneys.
McCarter & English first made strides in providing our women attorneys with role models, mentors, and access to other women professionals at a time when few women could be found in the courtroom or around the conference table. Today, the Women's Initiative continues that tradition with a focus on building positive relationships: relationships with each other, with our peers, with our clients, and with the communities in which we live and work. Although more women are attaining the rank of partner, general counsel, and judge than ever before, McCarter & English is committed to making even greater efforts toward retaining and advancing women in law — not only for the benefit of our Firm but for the benefit of all."
- Andrew T. Berry, Former Firm Chairman - In Memoriam (1940-2009)
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