Women in Leadership in the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division

For the first time in the history of the ABA’s Judicial Division (JD), there will be four women in leadership: Chair – Judge Ann Breen-Greco, Chair Elect (and member of the Women in Law Committee) – Judge Toni Clark, Vice Chair – Judge Liz Lang-Meier, Vice Chair, and immediate past Chair, Col. Linda Murnane. Judge Toni Clark also makes history by being the first African-American woman in JD leadership. Judges Breen-Greco, Clark, and Murnane have also been long-time activists in the National Association of Women Judges. Judge Clark serves as the NAWJ Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. Judge Breen-Greco has served as the NAWJ’s Vice President of Districts and is the NAWJ liaison to the ABA’s Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence.. Col. Murnane has been a frequent speaker at the NAWJ conferences.

Judge Breen-Greco is a new member of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law. Previously she has been Chair of the ISBA Administrative Law Section and ISBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.

Judge Breen-Greco’s theme for her year as ABA Judicial Division Chair is:

Fostering Creative/Collaborative Leadership Globally to Ensure Fairness in Justice Systems

• Ensuring Fairness through: judge and lawyer mindfulness and leadership; leveraging technology; innovative techniques for ensuring orderly and fair proceedings in the courts; and what judges can do when social policy undermines the premise of justice and how judges can address public health crises.

• Working globally: (1) the ABA mid-year meeting for 2018 (January 31 to February 6) will be in Vancouver, British Columbia, which will provide an opportunity to include judges and administrative tribunals from Canada and judges from other countries; and (2) focus on the United Nations’ Declaration of the International Decade for People of African Descent – 2015-2024, which also highlights the current public health crises in the United States.

Judge Breen-Greco is interested in working collaboratively in her role as ABA Judicial Division Chair and as a member of the ISBA Standing Committee on Women and the Law on issues of mutual concern. One issue that Judge Breen-Greco has been working on in the ABA judicial Division is a resolution proposed by the National Association of Women Judges regarding appointments from the bench of women and minorities. 