Association for Women Attorneys – New Orleans

As one of its initiatives in the legal community, the AWA has committed to award $500 annually to an outstanding law clinic student from each of the two local law schools, whose work has focused on issues important to the AWA.

At Tulane, the $500 award is given to the most outstanding student in the Domestic Violence Law Clinic(as chosen by the Director of the Clinic).

At Loyola, the $500 award is given to the most outstanding student in the family law section of the Loyola Law Clinic (to be selected by the family law attorney/advisor at the Clinic).

Our 2012 award recipient from the Tulane Domestic Violence Clinic is Jodie Sullivan. Jodie joined the Tulane Law School Domestic Violence Clinic as a summer student in May 2011, and continued in the year-long clinic for the 2011-2012 academic year. During her time in the Clinic, Jodie showed extraordinary commitment to the domestic violence survivors she represented.  Because of the exceptional representation she provided to her clients, Jodie has transformed the lives of women and children who can now live in homes free from violence. Throughout the year, Jodie inspired excellence in those around her.  Her work ethic, professionalism,  intellect, and wit make her an inspiring example to her peers. At the end of her final semester in law school, Jodie volunteered to handle an emergency hearing in the middle of exams. Her commitment to this work and to her clients is exceptional, and her compassion for her clients is evident to all around her. But Jodie is also exceptional because those admirable qualities are combined with excellent lawyering skills. After graduation, Jodie intends to continue work on behalf of victims in her legal career.

Our 2012 award recipient from the Loyola Family Law Clinic is Tiffany Boveland. Tiffany has an extensive background in the mental health field and assisted the Clinic supervisors with three challenging clinic cases, including two representations of minor children in highly litigated custody cases.  Tiffany is a student in Loyola’s newly founded Child’s Rights Section who also worked tirelessly on a “Special Immigration Juvenile Status” case which was carried over from last year’s family law clinic cases.

Jodie and Tiffany received their awards at the AWA May Luncheon, where they were introducted by their Clinic Supervisors.

The AWA Board of Directors is calling a special meeting for the sole purpose of voting on this 2012 Resolution.  The Resolution supports House Bill 953 and Senate Bill 609, which aims to permanently stop implementation of earlier legislation mandating court consolidation at its current stage. As the Resolution states, the judges have been provided with a fiscal note of over $7 million to complete consolidation.  The AWA, as well as other local and specialty bars, have been asked to publicly support the pending legislation. Judges Camille Buras and Angelique Reed both spoke about the legislation at our luncheon last week.

If you would like to vote YES or NO on the proposed Resolution, you may cast your vote at the meeting (the meeting is held strictly for the purposes of voting):

Monday, March 26, 2012
10:00 am – 10:30 am
Office of AWA President, Lindsay Spann
Carver, Darden
Energy Center, Suite 3100
1100 Poydras Street

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 This conference call is co-sponsored by the National Association of Women Lawyers, the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and the National Women’s Law Center.