Membership in QCWBA

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A Message From The President

The Queens County Women’s Bar Association is as relevant today as it was at its inception. Despite the advances we have made, women are still fighting to break the glass ceiling, maintain a practice and a home, survive in the sandwich generation, and  join the ranks of  government from the legislature to the judiciary. Women all over the world live in horrific conditions, without rights and freedom. It remains important that we set the standard in the 21st century.

Together we can fulfill our missions to secure the rights of women and families-here  and abroad,   promote women in the judiciary, provide significant professional networking and act as a powerful voice on issues of local, statewide, national and international significance.  For these reasons and so many more, I am honored to be the 57th president of the Queens County Women’s Bar Association, a chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of New York.  As I said at our annual installation before 350 jurists, court personnel, legal professionals, friends and family, we stand on the shoulders of those who came before and helped build a professional bar association dedicated to the needs of women attorneys.  The shoulders of our past presidents, among them the Honorable Geraldine Ferraro who passed too soon this year, our immediate past president, Nicole McGregor Mundy, and all the others who gave of themselves for the professional growth of others.  And yet, despite the successes of years past, we are still fighting for equality.  Our society stands at yet another crossroads-where the promise of our profession may not bring with it the security for the future we hoped for and where the needs of the community are defined by the current economic inequality. 

At both the local and state level, our Association continues to meet the needs of professionals and the Queens community.  Our practice is your practice, and our life stories are yours- now and in the future.  We are set to restart our mentoring program, reconvene our “Chamber Chats” with judges and reignite our continuing legal education programs.  Join a committee- at both the state and local level, we have opportunities for your professional growth and for you to participate in real change. From international women rights to continuing legal education, there is a place for you to grow, learn and make a difference.  Forms will be available shortly on line and at our events for you to sign up and participate.  Join us  at our new member reception and our First Annual Soft Ball Game (look for our events right here).  Join us for our Annual Judiciary Night, when the Honorable Ann Pfau, Chief Administrative Judge will be our key note speaker and Honoree on November 17, 2011 at the Queen Museum of Art,  where members  mingle with members of the judiciary and network with members of the profession.  Join us at our continuing education programs including October 4, 2011 for the annual Appellate Update and as  we continue our partnership with CUNY Law School, a program in the Fall focusing on elder law, estate practice, and implications of the marriage equality act.

Finally, as I look to the future, I would be remiss in not thanking all who joined in the celebration, my colleagues on the bench who have never shied away from mentoring me; the past presidents to whom we owe so much and our members to whom I look to for support during this up coming here; my Administrative Judge, the Honorable Jeremy Weinstein for doing the honors; my friends and court family; and finally,my amazing family-my daughters Rebecca, whose words at the invocation set the moral tone for my presidency and Sara, who was with us in spirit from Nashville and my husband, Kevin Lynch, who helps to make this all possible.
—Hon. Bernice D. Siegal, QCWBA President