FAWL CHRONICLES FAWL Members Don’t Have to Look Far for a Top-shelf Mentor! AWL President Deborah speak from experience. I was taken into her sphere when Magid has made it one of we worked together on the First 150 Women Lawyers herF goals to develop a Project, and through her assistance and support, we were wise women’s network in able to publish Celebrating Florida’s First 150 Women FAWL, which she plans to ac- Lawyers, which was released at a gala banquet celebra- complish through encouraging tion attended by over 900 lawyers from around the state. experienced women lawyers to I would be remiss if I did not mention that Edith also has be mentors for young women a knack for showing her appreciation for hard work. She by and through educating women rewarded me with the President’s Award of Merit at The Wendy Loquasto to look at the experienced Florida Bar annual meeting in June 2000. Historian women as an opportunity for Judge Winifred J. Sharp, of the Fifth District Court mutual career growth. of Appeal, became the second recipient of FAWL’s FAWL has plenty of experienced members who Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award in have risen to high office and continue to mentor others. June 1998. Judge Sharp knows the strides women law- Consider, for example, the recipients of FAWL’s Rose- yers have made over the last forty years, because she has mary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award. The first lived them. She graduated from Stanford Law School in recipient was former Florida Bar President, Edith G. 1961, worked in private practice for many years, and then Osman, who received the award in June 1997. Edith, who became one of Florida’s first three female appellate judges is a shareholder in the Miami office of Carlton Fields, is a when she was appointed to the Fifth DCA in 1979. Judge born leader, having become President of the Miami-Dade Sharp was President of FAWL in 1971-72, and you can FAWL Chapter in 1987, only four years after she graduat- still find her attending FAWL meetings over thirty years ed from the University of Miami School of Law, and then later! She is quick to share her history and experience, as becoming FAWL President in 1989 and Florida Bar Presi- evidenced by the fact that I just received a letter from her dent in 1999. To know Edith is to realize that she is quick in which she shared some personal history, as well as an to offer opportunities for career growth to other women. I item about other early women judges. Through her stead- FAWL Awards Mayor Lois Frankel the 2004 Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achievement Award ayor Lois J. Frankel joined The purpose of the Rosemary as an assistant public defender. Four the exclusive list of recipi- Barkett Award is to recognize FAWL years later, Lois began practicing in entsM of FAWL’s Rosemary Barkett members from all walks of life who the male-dominated field of person- Outstanding Achievement Award have been particularly successful in al injury law with Searcy, Denney, in June. The award was presented overcoming ste- Scarola, Barnhart by FAWL President Dinita James reotypes and mak- and Shipley (1978- at the June 10, 2004, meeting of ing their marks as 1994), and later the Palm Beach County FAWL women attorneys. with Ricci Leopold Chapter. The presentation was Lois epitomizes P.A. (1994-2003). videotaped, because Lois would the award. Upon moving to be attending the U.S. Conference Lois was born West Palm Beach, of Mayors being held in Boston in New York. She Lois immediately when FAWL would have ordinar- graduated Phi immersed herself ily been presenting the award at Beta Kappa from in the fabric of the its annual luncheon on June 25. To Boston University local community. the complete surprise and delight and earned a law degree from George- She was a founder of West Palm of everyone, Lois altered her plans town University Law Center in 1973. Beach’s first domestic assault shelter just so she could be present at the She moved to West Palm Beach in now known as Harmony House, and luncheon in Boca. 1974, where she began her law practice she has served as an active member 4 Autumn 2004 • FAWL JOURNAL fast presence, Judge Sharp continues to encourage FAWL tioning that had been occurring at JNC interviews. to be a voice for women lawyers. Speaking of Justice Barbara J. Pariente, she was the The third Rosemary Barkett Outstanding Achieve- 2000 recipient of the FAWL Rosemary Barkett Outstand- ment Award was presented to Ellen C. Freidin in June ing Achievement Award. Ask anyone in the Palm Beach 1999. Ellen is an unparalleled leader who has brought County Chapter about Justice Pariente and you will concrete improvements to all Florida women. From her discover that she was a founding member of that chapter position on Florida’s Constitution Revision Commission and that she keeps coming back year after year to sup- in 1997-98, she became the prime sponsor of the success- port and encourage its members. Like Judge Sharp, Justice ful effort to add women’s rights to the Florida Constitu- Pariente has experienced the strides women lawyers have tion. FAWL worked hand-in-hand with Ellen, providing made. She graduated from George Washington University the legal research and speakers to ensure passage of the Law School in 1973 as one of 20 women in a class of 400 Basic Rights Amendment. and she chose to enter a field dominated by male lawyers Prior to her work on the Commission, Ellen chaired civil trial practice. In 1975, she became the first woman The Florida Bar Special Committee for Gender Equality associate and in 1977 she became the first woman partner in the Profession from its inception in 1991 through 1995, at the prestigious Cone, Wagner and Nugent law firm in and through her efforts the Rules of Professional Conduct West Palm Beach. She formed her own law firm in 1983, were amended to prohibit discriminatory conduct, eth- but then was appointed to the Fourth District Court ics credit was made available for programs that address of Appeal in 1993 and to the Florida Supreme Court in avoiding biased behavior, and diversity became a consid- 1997. As Chief Justice, she is a woman who has reached eration in Bar committee and leadership programs. Ellen, the pinnacle of our profession in Florida, yet she remains a 1978 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law accessible and is generous with her time and advice to who works in the Miami office of Akerman Senterfitt, is a up-and-coming women lawyers. I know because Justice long-time member of FAWL, and you can always depend Pariente always inquires about how my new law practice on seeing her at the FAWL lunches. You can also depend is going and congratulates me on the move. She believes on Ellen to speak up and encourage FAWL to combat gen- that the camaraderie and mentorship that FAWL provides der bias in the profession. In fact, FAWL’s JNC Selection is necessary to discuss the unique issues that face women Committee, which monitors JNC interviews, is a project lawyers. Her brave act, during her recovery from chemo- recommended by Ellen on the eve of Justice Pariente’s therapy, of appearing on the bench without her wig speaks appointment to the Florida Supreme Court. I know that volumes for the support she willingly extends to other because I was there at the FAWL Board Meeting when women, not only in the legal profession, but in all profes- she and Judge Sharp alerted FAWL to the improper ques- £ CHRONICLES, Continued on Page 6 of the Palm Beach County Ameri- legislation creating a memory disorder family as well. Her son Benjamin, of can Cancer Society and the Actors clinic at St. Mary’s Hospital. whom she is very proud, is currently Workshop and Repertory Company. Lois left the House as the result serving as a 1st Lieutenant in the She has continued her community of term limits in 2002 and she made United States Marines. involvement over the years, which an unsuccessful run for governor in a Chief Justice Barbara J. Pari- includes mentoring 15-year-old Ca- crowded field of Democrats seeking to ente, recipient of the 2000 Rose- melia through the Take Stock in Chil- replace Governor Jeb Bush. Florida’s mary Barkett Award, had this to say dren Program for the last six years. loss was West Palm Beach’s gain in about Lois receiving the award: In 1986, Lois was elected to the 2003, when Lois was elected mayor “I have known Lois since our Florida House of Representatives. She of the largest and busiest city in Palm college days over 36 years ago. represented District 85 in the House for Beach County. Our paths crossed often during 14 years (1986-92 and 1994-2002), ris- Those in FAWL have also benefited our years of practice in West ing to the position of Minority Leader, from Lois’s involvement and advo- Palm Beach and as mothers the first Democratic woman so desig- cacy. As a young lawyer in Palm Beach to sons who are less than six nated in Florida’s history. As a legislator, County in the mid-1970s, there were months apart. Lois has always Lois earned a reputation for being an few female mentors for Lois. She and been passionate in her beliefs energetic champion of Florida’s chil- others, including Rosemary Barkett and in her dedication to public dren, seniors, and working families.