NEW YORK, N.Y. – Ms. JD, a national nonprofit organization, held a Leadership Summit on April 4-5 in New York City. The purpose of the summit was to bring together law students from around the country to form a national organization of women law students.

Sponsored by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP, the event was attended by approximately 100 students from over 60 law schools with representatives in attendance from over 30 states. The event kicked off with addresses by Chief Judge Judith Kaye, New York Court of Appeals, who spoke on the challenges that still exist for women in the legal profession and Lynn Hecht Schafren who spoke on how far women lawyers have come to date. The second day of the conference consisted of committee meetings, networking, elections and brainstorming on the purpose and direction of the newly formed national organization. Students participated in a networking luncheon led by Axiom Legal and the event closed with inspiring remarks by Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor and legal correspondent for Slate, and the keynote speaker, Professor Barbara Babcock, the first woman professor at Stanford Law School.

The delegates voted to call their new national organization: The National Women Law Students’ Organization (NWLSO) and, going forward, Campbell University’s Law School will be part of the Southern region of this national group. 

Erin Pleasant, third year law student and president of Campbell Law’s Women in Law chapter, and Marlo Ricks, second year student and vice president of Campbell Law’s Women in Law chapter, represented Campbell Law School at the Summit. Ricks will continue to serve as vice president in the coming academic year.
  
Each will serve on the Networking committee, where they will help plan regional events bringing together female law students across the region to network with attorneys, judges and other women in the legal profession. Additionally, Marlo Ricks was chosen to fulfill the regional position of North Carolina Chairperson.

For more information, visit www.ms-jd.org or contact Anna Nelson, vice president and media relations officer, at vp@ms-jd.org.

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