Foley Attorney Receives Lelia J. Robinson Award For Demonstrating Excellence In Legal Profession
BOSTON – LAWFUEL – Law News Network – Foley & Lardner LLP announced today that Ellen C. Kearns will receive the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) Lelia J. Robinson Award.
Since 1994, the WBA has celebrated Lelia J. Robinson’s achievement of being the first woman admitted to practice law in Massachusetts. The annual award honors women who have achieved professional excellence in the legal profession and have supported advancement opportunities for women, influenced women to pursue legal careers or performed exemplary public service for women.
Kearns is of counsel in Foley’s Labor & Employment Practice. She represents management in a full range of traditional labor and employment issues, including National Labor Relations Board proceedings, negotiations, and arbitration and has extensive experience in the field of wage and hour law.
Kearns was President of the WBA and the Women’s Bar Foundation, the non-profit arm of the WBA that supports its pro bono projects. During her terms of office, Kearns helped to create the WBA’s three-year strategic plan; founded the Elder law project; worked on Spousal Elective Share legislation; established the Employment Issues Study Group, which ultimately published “More Than Part-Time,” a study of part-time issues in Boston law firms; and served on the Special Nominating Committee, established by Governor Cellucci to recommend four candidates to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She also has served as President of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.
Kearns was named a Massachusetts Super Lawyer in 2004 and 2005. She also is listed in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business for 2006, The Best Lawyers in America® and Who’s Who Legal USA – Management Labor & Employment 2006. In 1993, she received the Cushing-Gavin Award for excellence in Labor-Management Relations.
Along with Kearns, Nadine Cohen of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law of the Boston Bar Association will receive the Lelia J. Robinson award for her contribution to the legal profession. The award will be presented at the WBA Gala on October 17, 2006 at the Westin Copley Place Hotel.
Foley has adopted a firm-wide policy to support and encourage pro bono work through formation of a national pro bono committee. The firm’s pro bono activities run the gamut of providing services to individuals, legal aid societies, and civil rights organizations to representing non-profit organizations in strategic projects and litigation matters. Foley performs work in almost every area of public interest law, representing individuals and organizations with limited financial means. A substantial portion of the work has included immigration and asylum law as well as civil and children’s rights.
Foley & Lardner LLP provides the full range of corporate legal counsel. Our attorneys understand today’s most complex business issues, including corporate governance, securities enforcement, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property counseling and litigation, outsourcing and information technology, labor and employment, and tax. The firm offers total solutions in the automotive, emerging technologies, energy, entertainment and media, financial services, food, golf and resort services, insurance, health care, life sciences, nanotechnology, and sports industries. The firm’s Web site can be found at www.foley.com.
# # #
Editor’s Note: Please contact Susan E. White at 312.832.4733 or sewhite@foley.com for a photo of Ellen Kearns.
