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Kathryn Grant Madigan, President
New York State Bar Association
The 110th President of the New York State Bar Association
and the fourth woman to hold the Association’s top office, Kathryn Grant
Madigan is a partner in the Binghamton law firm of Levene Gouldin &
Thompson, LLP, where her practice areas include trusts and estates and
elder law.
Capping 28 years of bar service, President Madigan is dedicated to
securing the Association’s legacy as the voice of the New York lawyer by
getting back to the basics and focusing on leadership through service.
“The law is a service profession,” said Madigan. “The drive to serve is
what attracts many of us to the profession.”
Raised in Glen Rock, New Jersey, Madigan was the second of seven
children and one of five girls. Her parents viewed education as a
lifelong experience and expected their children to be financially
independent. They often reminded Madigan and her siblings that whatever
they chose as their life’s work, they needed to give back in equal
measure to their communities. Madigan viewed a career in the legal
profession as an opportunity for service.
Prior to attending law school, she earned a bachelor of arts,
graduating cum laude from the University of Colorado at
Boulder. While paying for her education, Madigan was elected to Phi Beta
Kappa, Mortar Board, received the 1975 Pacesetter (Outstanding Senior)
Award and played point guard on the women’s basketball team. In 1978,
Madigan graduated from Albany Law School, where she founded the law
school’s Ms. Demeanors Rugby Club.
After her admission to the bar in 1979, Madigan immersed herself in
the Binghamton/Broome County legal community, working as an attorney and
then assistant general counsel for the Security Mutual Insurance Company
of New York. Thereafter, she served as a confidential law assistant to
the Broome County Surrogate’s Court. In 1991, she became of counsel to
Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP, where she is now partner and chair of
its marketing committee.
Early in her legal career Madigan became active in this Association
and the Broome County Bar Association, becoming the county bar’s
youngest and first female president. Under her leadership, the county
bar twice received the New York State Conference of Bar Leader’s Award
of Merit.
She has held numerous leadership positions in the Association,
including chair of the Elder Law Section, chair of the Membership
Committee, founding chair of the Committee on Attorneys in Public
Service, charter member of the Corporate Counsel Section, 19-year member
of the Association’s House of Delegates, and 12-year member of the
Executive Committee. Most recently, she served as president-elect of the
Association and chair of the House of Delegates. She is a Life Fellow of
The New York Bar Foundation.
Madigan also was a member of the Association’s Task Force on Solo
and Small Firm Practitioners, Committee on the Future of the Profession,
the Nominating Committee and the Special Committee on Fiduciary
Appointments. In addition, she was a member of the Executive Council of
the New York State Conference of Bar Leaders.
Madigan received the 2000 Kate Stoneman Award given by Albany Law
School and the 1987 NYSBA Outstanding Young Lawyer Award, and is listed
in America’s Best Lawyers.
A noted lecturer in the field of estate planning and elder law,
Madigan serves on the Administrative Board of the Office of the Public
Administrator and is a Fellow of the American College Trust and Estate
Counsel, and a Fellow of the American Bar Association. She is also a
member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.
Active in many community and civic organizations, Madigan is a
trustee of the Binghamton University Foundation and a past chair of the
Harpur Forum. She is a trustee and past chair of the United Health
Services Foundation and performs at the annual Greater Binghamton
Chamber of Commerce Dinner as a Live Wire Player.
Madigan enjoys music and travel, as well as spending time with her
two sons, R. James (“Jeb”) Madigan III, a 1L at Cornell Law School; and
Grant Madigan, a student at St. Michael’s College at the University of
Toronto.
With 72,000 members, the New York State Bar Association is the
largest voluntary bar association in the country.
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