Chicago, USA: The American Bar Association (ABA) has unveiled its 2025 honorees for the prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, recognizing five outstanding women lawyers who have broken barriers and championed gender equity in the legal profession.
The awards, established in 1991 by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, honor women who have not only achieved professional excellence but have actively paved the way for others.
The 2025 ceremony will take place on August 5, 2025, at the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada.
“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 ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.
The 2025 Honorees include
1. Maryka Omatsu, a retired judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, becomes the first East Asian woman judge to be honored from Canada. A co-founder of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, Omatsu has been widely recognized for championing diversity and legal reform. She previously received the Trailblazer Award from the National Asian Pacific Bar Association.
2. Judge Holly J. Fujie, serving on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, made history as the first Asian American president of the State Bar of California. A former shareholder at Buchalter Nemer, Fujie has been a vocal advocate for equity in the judiciary.
3. Jami Wintz McKeon, Chair of global law firm Morgan Lewis, leads over 4,000 staff across 30 offices worldwide. The first woman to hold the position at the firm, McKeon oversees legal services to Fortune 100 companies and is widely admired for her mentorship of young lawyers.
4. Bridget Marsh, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, brings global finance and corporate law experience from Milbank (New York) and Simmons & Simmons (London). She has played a leading role in shaping industry-wide financial policy.
5. Justice Anita Earls, An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, is a veteran civil rights lawyer and former executive director of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. She served in the U.S. Department of Justice during the Clinton administration and is widely respected for her jurisprudence and public interest work.
About the Award
The ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, is named for Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in America. Brent arrived in the colonies in 1638 and was involved in 124 court cases in more than eight years, winning every case. In 1648, she formally demanded a vote and voice in the Maryland Assembly, which the governor denied.
Past honorees include U.S. Supreme Court justices, legislators, scholars, civil rights activists and powerhouse corporate lawyers. Winners are selected on the basis of their professional accomplishments and their role in opening doors of opportunity for other women lawyers.
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