President's Message
by WLS President Lauren Jones
I just honestly can’t believe it is June already. I am thrilled to report that the excitement, positivity, and energy with which our year started has continued tenfold. It is in no small part to the dedication and hard work of our Board Members. These amazing women volunteer their time and energy, all while balancing high stress jobs, families, and even other non-profit roles. They are dedicated to bringing our membership relevant and exciting events, keep our organization on top of the latest legislation that supports our mission, supporting the appointment of women in our community to judicial roles, and fundraising to provide scholarships to law students and grants to the community. It is no easy task to do the work that our Board does, and I thank them all for their commitment to our organization and
mission.
March being women’s history month was our time to shine. The Career Advancement and Retention Committee hosted a mixer celebrating women, our organization, and women in their pursuit of expanding career opportunities. They challenged our guests to really learn more about each other by playing an interactive get to know you BINGO game, with prizes! They also facilitated the opportunity for employers and employees to connect and explore new job opportunities. It was a well-attended super fun event.
April was Stress Awareness Month, and the Programs committee took the opportunity to have a vulnerable discussion about the role of well-being in the legal field and our duty to prioritize wellness in our practice. This was our first Zoom event of the year, which seems so odd to say after the past several years. We heard from panelists Judges Julie Yap, Jill Talley, and Lauri Damrell who shared their personal experiences and stories, reminded us of the need to find ways to manage stress and setting boundaries, and stressed the importance of believing in yourself and making the ask for what you really need to be your best. It was an inspiring conversation making us all realize we are not alone in the stress we face in our roles as attorneys. It also satisfied the coveted competency MCLE credit.
The Career Advancement and Retention Committee came back again to co-host our May luncheon with Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento (SABA), and Sacramento Filipino American Lawyers Association (SacFALA) in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We were thrilled to be working with three affiliates at once, and so proud of the collaboration. The event discussed mental health and Asian American empowerment that uniquely impact Asian-American communities. It was great to hear some personal struggles and stories from our panelists that resonated with each of us.
We look forward to working with additional affiliates as the year continues, as well as hosting our always fun and engaging annual fundraising event, Artfest. I look forward to the continued work of our amazing Board this year. I thank each of the ladies for their dedication to the organization, and I thank each of our members for their continued support.
by WLS President Lauren Jones
I just honestly can’t believe it is June already. I am thrilled to report that the excitement, positivity, and energy with which our year started has continued tenfold. It is in no small part to the dedication and hard work of our Board Members. These amazing women volunteer their time and energy, all while balancing high stress jobs, families, and even other non-profit roles. They are dedicated to bringing our membership relevant and exciting events, keep our organization on top of the latest legislation that supports our mission, supporting the appointment of women in our community to judicial roles, and fundraising to provide scholarships to law students and grants to the community. It is no easy task to do the work that our Board does, and I thank them all for their commitment to our organization and
mission.
March being women’s history month was our time to shine. The Career Advancement and Retention Committee hosted a mixer celebrating women, our organization, and women in their pursuit of expanding career opportunities. They challenged our guests to really learn more about each other by playing an interactive get to know you BINGO game, with prizes! They also facilitated the opportunity for employers and employees to connect and explore new job opportunities. It was a well-attended super fun event.
April was Stress Awareness Month, and the Programs committee took the opportunity to have a vulnerable discussion about the role of well-being in the legal field and our duty to prioritize wellness in our practice. This was our first Zoom event of the year, which seems so odd to say after the past several years. We heard from panelists Judges Julie Yap, Jill Talley, and Lauri Damrell who shared their personal experiences and stories, reminded us of the need to find ways to manage stress and setting boundaries, and stressed the importance of believing in yourself and making the ask for what you really need to be your best. It was an inspiring conversation making us all realize we are not alone in the stress we face in our roles as attorneys. It also satisfied the coveted competency MCLE credit.
The Career Advancement and Retention Committee came back again to co-host our May luncheon with Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento (SABA), and Sacramento Filipino American Lawyers Association (SacFALA) in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. We were thrilled to be working with three affiliates at once, and so proud of the collaboration. The event discussed mental health and Asian American empowerment that uniquely impact Asian-American communities. It was great to hear some personal struggles and stories from our panelists that resonated with each of us.
We look forward to working with additional affiliates as the year continues, as well as hosting our always fun and engaging annual fundraising event, Artfest. I look forward to the continued work of our amazing Board this year. I thank each of the ladies for their dedication to the organization, and I thank each of our members for their continued support.
April's Virtual MCLE Program
by Programs Committee Co-Chairs Jennifer Domer & Jamie Mauhay Powers As part of WLS’ ongoing commitment to promoting well-being in the legal profession, the Programs Committee hosted a CLE event focusing on prioritizing wellness as part of a lawyer’s duty of competence. We had in incredible panel consisting of Sacramento Superior Court Judges Jill Talley, Lauri Damrell and Julie Yap. The Zoom event was well attended and gave the panel an opportunity to dig deep, be vulnerable, and share their observations and advice to put wellness at the top of your to-do list in this highly demanding profession we are in. The judges spoke to us about maintaining a healthy work-life balance, managing stress, and prioritizing self-care. |
May's AAPI Heritage Month Luncheon
by Career Advancement & Retention Co-Chair Kristin Blocher
On May 18, 2023, WLS partnered with all Sacramento Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) affiliate bar organizations - Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento (SABA), and Sacramento Filipino American Lawyers Association (SacFALA) - for an insightful conversation on mental health and Asian American empowerment.
Mental health issues are an enormous and ongoing concern throughout the legal community and have a great impact on career advancement and retention. These have been exacerbated for many due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mental health concerns can also have, and have had in recent years, a uniquely detrimental impact on certain groups including those of AAPI heritage.
Every one of us either identifies as AAPI or has close friends, colleagues, and/or clients who share this cultural identification. Approximately 10% of the total US population is made up of AAPI individuals. This group is extremely diverse, encompassing more than 50 distinct racial groups and more than 30 different languages, not to mention immigration experiences and religious affiliation. Given this diversity, it is difficult to speak to issues facing the AAPI community as a whole. Nonetheless, due to cultural values and experiences, many of these groups have historically not acknowledged mental health issues and continue to underutilize mental health services available.
While the pandemic impacted all communities, the AAPI population experienced a surge in hate crimes and violence. A Pew Survey in April of 2021, showed 32% of Asian-American Adults – a greater percentage than any other racial group – expressed fear of being threatened or physically attacked and 27% were subjects of racial slurs or jokes. Rates of anxiety and depression dramatically increased for the AAPI population, beyond what was seen within the world population. However, stigmas and fears have also prevented many in the AAPI community from seeking the help they need.
by Career Advancement & Retention Co-Chair Kristin Blocher
On May 18, 2023, WLS partnered with all Sacramento Asian-American Pacific Islander (AAPI) affiliate bar organizations - Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), South Asian Bar Association of Sacramento (SABA), and Sacramento Filipino American Lawyers Association (SacFALA) - for an insightful conversation on mental health and Asian American empowerment.
Mental health issues are an enormous and ongoing concern throughout the legal community and have a great impact on career advancement and retention. These have been exacerbated for many due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Mental health concerns can also have, and have had in recent years, a uniquely detrimental impact on certain groups including those of AAPI heritage.
Every one of us either identifies as AAPI or has close friends, colleagues, and/or clients who share this cultural identification. Approximately 10% of the total US population is made up of AAPI individuals. This group is extremely diverse, encompassing more than 50 distinct racial groups and more than 30 different languages, not to mention immigration experiences and religious affiliation. Given this diversity, it is difficult to speak to issues facing the AAPI community as a whole. Nonetheless, due to cultural values and experiences, many of these groups have historically not acknowledged mental health issues and continue to underutilize mental health services available.
While the pandemic impacted all communities, the AAPI population experienced a surge in hate crimes and violence. A Pew Survey in April of 2021, showed 32% of Asian-American Adults – a greater percentage than any other racial group – expressed fear of being threatened or physically attacked and 27% were subjects of racial slurs or jokes. Rates of anxiety and depression dramatically increased for the AAPI population, beyond what was seen within the world population. However, stigmas and fears have also prevented many in the AAPI community from seeking the help they need.
This month, the Programs Committee will be co-hosting a Pride Month event with SacLegal! At this mixer, we will celebrate and honor the LGBTQ+ community. We hope you can all attend this event with us! It will be on June 15th at 5:30 PM in the Cannery at the Sequoia.
To register for this event, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wls-and-saclegal-pride-celebration-tickets-639537783727
Jewish American Heritage Month
by Publicity and Community Relations Co-Chair Joceline Herman
Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) has occurred every May since 2006 to recognize and learn about the nearly four centuries of American Jewish experience. Yet, most Americans know nothing about Jews or the Jewish American experience. If Americans know anything about Jews or Jewish Americans, they typically know something of the Holocaust or today’s historic rise of antisemitism. While the Holocaust and history and reality of antisemitism are important to the Jewish American experience; the systemic hatred Jews have experienced throughout history is not all there is to know about Jews and Jewish American Heritage.
So, who are Jews? We are an ethnoreligious group, a tribe, and a nation originating in the Land of Israel with a history spanning over 4000 years. Jews are descendants from the Kingdom of Judah and the word “Jew” specifically means someone from the Kingdom of Judah. Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish People. Most Jews were systematically expelled from Israel by multiple invaders and conquerors throughout history and thus found their way to most corners of the world. Jews have not been welcomed or treated as equals through the vast majority of history in most of the places we were forced to migrate to. Our history is one of survival. Jews and Jewish traditions have evolved and changed with each successive expulsion and have contributed to the culture and heritage of countries in which Jews lived.
Jews emigrated to North America in the earliest days of the colonial era. These early Jewish settlers represented a wide diversity of backgrounds and experiences, and the communities they formed together in New York, Rhode Island, Georgia, and elsewhere became the foundation of American Jewish life. Today Jews make up roughly 2.4% of the American population and about .2% of the world population.
Jewish Americans have been contributing to the American experience in Art, Politics, Science, Medicine, and yes, Law since 1654. Jewish women have been contributing to the American heritage in amazing ways from the time we landed in America; from Emma Lazarus’s (z”l[1], everlasting poem on the Statute of Liberty, to the incomparable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg (z”l), Jewish women have been instrumental to our Jewish American Heritage.
One such trailblazing woman was Bessie Margolin (z”l 1909-1996). Bessie Margolin was born to Jewish immigrants from Russia in 1909. She was raised in the New Orleans’ Jewish Orphans’ Home. In the Home she was raised with more than 150 other Jewish children and provided with an education by Jewish spiritual leaders who promoted progressive reforms to address the root causes of poverty. Ms. Margolin attended Tulane Law School as the school’s only woman student at the time, and despite the isolation and difficulties of being the only woman student, she graduated second in her law school class and was editor of the Law Review.
Jobs were scarce in 1930, especially for a Jewish woman lawyer. Nevertheless, she secured a job as a research assistant at Yale Law School, and she so impressed the faculty that she was the first woman awarded Yale’s Sterling fellowship for graduate studies.
Bessie Margolin began her legal government career with the Tennessee Valley Authority with a pledge that she would be married to her job, instead of a man, a pledge she honored for the rest of her life. In 1939, Ms. Margolin joined the Labor Department where she was critical to the development and enforcement of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. In March 1945, she argued and won her first Supreme Court case as only the 25th woman to ever argue before the Supreme Court. In this case and the 24 other Supreme Court arguments that followed, Ms. Margolin zealously sought to uphold the humanitarian purpose of the Act.
In May 1946, she was on loan to the Army where she traveled to Nuremberg, Germany to organize the American military tribunals. Ms. Margolin drafted the rules for the Nazi War Crimes Trials that were used for the war crime trials of nearly200 Nazi judges, doctors, and industrialist.
Ms. Margolin was passed over for seven federal judicial vacancies, all were filled by men. As such she remained with the Labor Department until her retirement where she developed the strategies and argued the first appeals under the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. The case law developed by Ms. Margolin is still used today when fighting for equal pay.
Ms. Margolin became a founding member of the National Organization for Women and was dubbed as the “nation’s number one fighter for equal pay for women.”
Jewish American Heritage is simultaneously intertwined with and separate from American Heritage. Our Jewish American Heritage was built by names you may know, but didn’t know were Jewish, and others who are less celebrated, but no less foundational to our collective American Heritage.
[1] Zichronoah Livracha (z”l) means “Of Blessed Memory” or “May his/her memory be a blessing” and is listed after the name of a Jewish person who has died.
WLS Scholarship Recipients
by Grants and Awards Committee Co-Chairs Krista Lister, Nicole Lowe, & Keely Nickelson
The Grants and Awards committee has awarded scholarships to five local law students from schools across Northern California, including McGeorge, Lincoln, UC Davis, and UC Berkeley.
WLS Legislative Update
by Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee Co-Chairs Carmen-Nicole Cox & Susan Holland
The Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee is excited to share a few updates about our efforts to influence California legislation in support of WLS’ 2023 policy areas of focus. Those areas of focus include (1) child welfare; (2) cultural competence, including equity in the workplace and labor market; and (3) reproductive health.
To ensure that we are making progress in these areas, the committee is closely monitoring nearly a dozen bills moving through the state legislature. Where appropriate, we submit letters of support to help facilitate the ultimate passage of legislation. These bills address issues such as expanding access to affordable childcare, promoting pay equity and diversity in hiring practices, protecting reproductive rights, achieving work-life balance, such as paid family leave and flexible work arrangements. Amongst the bills we are supporting and/or tracking are:
Child welfare. Assembly Bill (AB) 230 would require schools who educate grades three through five to stock the schools’ restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products. WLS has been advocating for this policy each of the past few years.
Cultural competence. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 would remove language from the California constitution that limits marriage to only unions between a man and a woman. AB 549 would require every state agency to evaluate whether its programs discriminate against women. WLS endorses these policies because they help to ensure that women can lead full, healthy, and authentic lives.
Equity in the workplace. AB 518 would expand benefits under paid family leave to allow eligible employees to care for a seriously ill member of their chosen or extended family. AB 524 would add "family caregiver status" to FEHA and the Unruh Act to prevent discrimination based on a person’s need to provide care for a family member. WLS supports these bills because women are more likely than men to experience caregiver burden by caring for another adult, and often shoulder more of the childcare load than men.
Reproductive Health SB 36 would provide safe haven for those fleeing a sister state to avoid prosecution or imprisonment due to that state’s criminalization of abortion or gender-affirming medical care. All women and birthing people should have bodily autonomy and should not be criminalized for exercising their agency.
The legislature is less than halfway through the 2-year legislative session. The Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee will continue monitoring and working with community organizations to identify relevant bills. We also invite our members to flag legislation for our review and consideration.
by Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee Co-Chairs Carmen-Nicole Cox & Susan Holland
The Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee is excited to share a few updates about our efforts to influence California legislation in support of WLS’ 2023 policy areas of focus. Those areas of focus include (1) child welfare; (2) cultural competence, including equity in the workplace and labor market; and (3) reproductive health.
To ensure that we are making progress in these areas, the committee is closely monitoring nearly a dozen bills moving through the state legislature. Where appropriate, we submit letters of support to help facilitate the ultimate passage of legislation. These bills address issues such as expanding access to affordable childcare, promoting pay equity and diversity in hiring practices, protecting reproductive rights, achieving work-life balance, such as paid family leave and flexible work arrangements. Amongst the bills we are supporting and/or tracking are:
Child welfare. Assembly Bill (AB) 230 would require schools who educate grades three through five to stock the schools’ restrooms with an adequate supply of free menstrual products. WLS has been advocating for this policy each of the past few years.
Cultural competence. Assembly Constitutional Amendment 5 would remove language from the California constitution that limits marriage to only unions between a man and a woman. AB 549 would require every state agency to evaluate whether its programs discriminate against women. WLS endorses these policies because they help to ensure that women can lead full, healthy, and authentic lives.
Equity in the workplace. AB 518 would expand benefits under paid family leave to allow eligible employees to care for a seriously ill member of their chosen or extended family. AB 524 would add "family caregiver status" to FEHA and the Unruh Act to prevent discrimination based on a person’s need to provide care for a family member. WLS supports these bills because women are more likely than men to experience caregiver burden by caring for another adult, and often shoulder more of the childcare load than men.
Reproductive Health SB 36 would provide safe haven for those fleeing a sister state to avoid prosecution or imprisonment due to that state’s criminalization of abortion or gender-affirming medical care. All women and birthing people should have bodily autonomy and should not be criminalized for exercising their agency.
The legislature is less than halfway through the 2-year legislative session. The Legislation and Bar Delegation Committee will continue monitoring and working with community organizations to identify relevant bills. We also invite our members to flag legislation for our review and consideration.