DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO ATTORNEY ELAINE METLIN AWARDED THE 2011 FLORENCE K. MURRAY AWARD

This year’s Florence K. Murray Award will be given to Elaine Metlin. The Award is presented annually to a nominee who is not a judge, and who has, by example or otherwise, influenced women to pursue legal careers, opened doors for women attorneys, or advanced opportunities for women within the legal profession. The Award will be presented at NAWJ’s Annual Awards Banquet held during its 33rd Annual Conference on Saturday, October 15, 2011 at the Newark Club in Newark, New Jersey.

Elaine Metlin is Co-Chair of NAWJ’s Resource Board and has been an active member since 2006. She is a partner in Dickstein Shapiro’s Business Litigation and White Collar Practices where she has practiced law for 27 years. In 2006, she was named Washington, D.C. head of Dickstein Shapiro’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, and was recognized in October 2008 in Profiles in Diversity Journal’s 7th Annual Women Worth Watching issue, which honored leaders from many industries who are “determined and compassionate.” She also is a founding member of the District of Columbia Chapter of Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to cultivate networking, mentoring, and career development opportunities for women across industries. Ms. Metlin is a life-long and passionate advocate for women. She has counseled victims of rape and abuse victims and spent hundreds of pro bono hours seeking to protect and preserve women’s reproductive rights. She has served as a mentor and role model for women since she entered law school as a single mother of a two-year-old daughter in 1980. In the mid-90’s, she was instrumental in drafting her firm’s cutting edge policy on alternative work arrangements, where women could work on a schedule reduced as much as 50 percent and still be on partnership track. She and her firm are generous supporters of NAWJ, contributing both time and resources. Dickstein Shapiro hosted an original panel on administrative courts for NAWJ judges, friends and other Washington, D.C. law firms, increasing NAWJ’s visibility in the Washington, D.C. legal community. Her firm has also been a strong supporter of NAWJ Conferences and Meetings, and has been a Landmark Sponsor for many years.

The National Association of Women Judges’ mission is to: promote the judicial role of protecting the rights of individuals under the rule of law through strong, committed, diverse judicial leadership, fairness and equality in the courts, and equal access to justice.

PAST AWARDEES