Paula R. Jackson, AWA CLE Chair 2015
Paula R. Jackson, a Bartlett resident, is currently practicing employment law with Jackson, Shields, Yeiser & Holt.
In addition to clerking for Federal Magistrate Howard T. Snyder and Chancellor Walter L. Evans in the Shelby County Chancery Court, Jackson has served as a solo practitioner, performed contract work for various area firms, practiced as an assistant district attorney for Shelby County, handled a complex e-discovery project for Burch Porter & Johnson, and volunteered at Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) on pro bono cases.
She served on the Memphis Chapter of the Association for Women Attorneys (AWA) Board as newsletter co-chair in 2013, membership co-chair in 2014, and will be the Continuing Legal Education (CLE) chair in 2015.
Her hobbies include creative writing, painting, and playing the piano.
Linda Shultz, AWA Executive Director
For the past seven years, Linda Schultz, a Bartlett resident, has served as executive director for the Association for Women Attorneys (AWA), Memphis Chapter.
In 2009, she was the organization’s newsletter editor and membership chair as well as executive director.
In her role with AWA, she communicates regularly with members and keeps records orderly and current.
She also retrieves and disseminates information for events such as the golf tournament and judicial reception and assists in any other capacity as needed.
She has been an insurance manager with Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation for nearly 24 years and is a member of Risk Management Society-Memphis Chapter (RIMS).
The 35th annual Association for Women Attorneys (AWA) banquet and silent auction was held in a new and larger venue this year on Jan. 29: the University of Memphis Holiday Inn. The space offered more room for about 170 members of the legal community to browse silent auction items and to move about, chatting up colleagues prior to the beginning of the program. Banquet co-chairs were incoming president Keating Lowery, an associate of the law firm of Lawrence & Russell PLC, and Diana Comes, an associate with Butler Snow.
The new location set the stage for a “big picture” message brought forth by the newest member of the Tennessee Supreme Court, justice Holly Kirby, AWA’s honoree and the 26th recipient of the Marion Griffin-Frances Loring Award for outstanding achievement in the legal profession. (Click for a profile on Kirby.) The award bears the name of human rights activist Frances Loring and also Marion Griffin, who became the first woman to win election to the Tennessee General Assembly in 1923, only three years after women were given the right to vote.
In her address during the evening, Justice Kirby, who has already made her own mark on history three different times, commissioned her fellow women attorneys to set precedent, and in particular, to increase the number of women attorneys in the legislature at the state and national levels. Justice Kirby is the first alumna from the University of Memphis to sit on the Tennessee Supreme Court (appointed in 2014); the first woman to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals (appointed in 1995); and became the first female partner in the Memphis law firm of Burch, Porter & Johnson (1990).
According to 2015 statistics as reported through Rutgers University Center for American Women and Politics online, women comprise only 20 percent of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate and just 84 of 435 members in the U.S. House of Representatives or 19.3 percent. Currently, 77 women hold statewide elective executive offices across the country or 24.2 percent of the 318 available positions. At the state level, 6 women of the 33 members serve in the Tennessee Senate and 17 of 99 in the Tennessee House. Total women in the Tennessee legislature are 23 of 132 or 17.4 percent.
Justice Kirby shared her journey with banquet attendees, including the desire to become a lawyer and a judge early in her life. She explained that it was not an accepted field for women at the time. She went on to say that she came from humble beginnings and without political connections. “Back then (within the past 35-40 years), there were few female role models nationally and almost none locally,” she remarked. “Today, the landscape for women lawyers has changed radically. It is fair to say that women lawyers in Memphis are fully integrated into virtually all aspects of the legal profession. There also are more federal lawyers in Tennessee now than ever before. AWA has a right to look at all of these strides and be very proud. They made it their mission to support women in leadership positions throughout the legal profession and then worked to achieve it.”
Justice Kirby paused to remind that there is more work to be done. “I’d like for AWA to consider taking on an important new goal: namely, getting more women lawyers into legislative offices. Specifically, I think it is time for women lawyers to re-claim Tennessee’s legacy of lawyer statesmen in the legislature, re-shape it, and make it our own. We need to create a new legacy of women lawyers in that role, to bring to bear their lawyering skills, their honor, their integrity and their good sense in service of our citizens as legislators. “
Pointing to Marion Griffin, for which her award is named, Justice Kirby reminded that Ms. Griffin fought hard to be accepted as a woman lawyer and to be admitted to the Tennessee Bar. Her perseverance paid off, as she became Tennessee’s first female lawyer (1907) and the first woman to win election to the Tennessee General Assembly (1923).
Justice Kirby closed by saying, “So you see, brave women lawyers serving in Tennessee’s legislature is part of our heritage. Let’s make it part of our legacy.”
Scholarships
Earlier in the program, scholarships were awarded to deserving law students at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. This year, the total awards were increased to $10,000, representing a $1,000 increase over the previous year, according to AWA scholarship chair Frances M. Riley, esq.
Each scholarship recipient received $2,500. Meagan Olivia Jones received the Dorothy Osradker scholarship; Aurelia Veda Patterson received the Judge Rita Stotts scholarship; Rachel N. Cade received the Susan Clark scholarship; and Ariel Anthony received the AWA scholarship. (Click here to see profiles of each recipient.)
In closing, AWA President for 2015 Keating Lowery reiterated her platform theme: Leveraging Our Voice: Fostering communication to promote networking and mentoring opportunities for women in the Shelby County legal community and beyond. (Click for a profile on Lowery.)
“As a major goal, we need to leverage our voice to empower members to leverage their voices,” she said. One of President Lowery’s objectives is to create an online networking community, taking connectivity into cyberspace for more rapid dissemination and easier access. As far as mentoring future lawyers, Keating has increased the law school liaisons to three this year and is excited about connecting students with professionals.
The evening’s program ended with a last call for silent auction bidders.
About AWA
The 200-member Association for Women Attorneys (AWA) was formed in 1979 and is made up of attorneys from the Mid-South. The president and board members serve a one-year term.
The purpose of the AWA is to support colleagues in the challenges they face as women and as attorneys, through mentoring AWA student chapter members and promoting public service in the community.
In an effort to support aspiring attorneys, AWA conducts fundraising activities for its scholarship fund, such as continuing legal education seminars, a silent auction at its annual dinner, and a golf tournament. In addition, the association members are encouraged to give back to the community by providing pro bono work to citizens who cannot otherwise afford legal assistance.
