The Legal’s editorial staff recently set out on our biannual mission to identify the Women of the Year, a group of attorneys who stand out for their notable achievements. We name a new group of women every two years in an attempt to highlight the important work being done by women throughout Pennsylvania in all corners of the legal profession. Our staff reviewed our archives, asked for insight from respected legal professionals and debated the merits of dozens of candidates to be considered as Women of the Year. Our search looked to all regions of the state and all areas of the profession—law firms, public interest organizations, government and anywhere else that women are impacting the law.
The list could have been much longer if we had tried to include every woman attorney doing something outstanding over the past few years, but we think this group deserves special attention. These women demonstrated the incredibly high standards of Pennsylvania attorneys from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and everywhere in between. The group includes judges at the center of high-profile cases and the women representing clients with everything on the line in those courtrooms. These women are branching out on their own to start new firms and rising to new positions of prominence in some of the largest firms in the country. They are general counsel diligently protecting their companies from risk and directors of public interest groups protecting the state’s residents from harm.
