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January 29, 2013
PAST STATE BAR PRESIDENT KATHRYN GRANT MADIGAN
RECEIVES RUTH G. SCHAPIRO AWARD
Binghamton attorney Kathryn Grant Madigan is the 2012 recipient of
the Ruth G. Schapiro Award, given by the Committee on Women in the Law
of the New York State Bar Association.
Madigan, who was president of the State Bar from June 2007 through
May 2008, was recognized for her dynamic leadership, effective mentoring
and efforts to make workplaces more family-friendly. Madigan received
the award on January 25 during the State Bar’s Annual Meeting in
New York City.
“Continuing the legacy of Ruth G. Schapiro, Kate Madigan is an
important voice for issues affecting the legal profession and women at
large. Kate knows firsthand the challenges that women, particularly
working mothers, face. As such, she has worked tirelessly to encourage
greater work-life balance and advance the status of other women
lawyers,” said Anna S. Park of Manhattan (Zeichner Ellman &
Krause), co-chair of the Committee on Women in the Law. “We are
pleased to honor such an outstanding role model.”
“Kate leads by example and with flair. Her infectious energy
and accomplishments have inspired so many female attorneys to become bar
and community leaders. Many credit her for helping them find a path to
leadership,” said Sharon M. Porcellio of Rochester (Ward Greenberg
Heller & Reidy), co-chair of the Committee on Women in the Law.
“She is richly deserving of this award.”
Active in the State Bar for 33 years, Madigan was the fourth woman to
serve as the organization’s president and is a former member of
its Executive Committee. Currently, she is a member of the House of
Delegates, the executive committees of the Elder Law and Senior Lawyers
sections, and the Committee on Leadership Development, which she
chairs.
Madigan founded the State Bar’s annual Women on the Move
Program in 2003, which provides practical advice to women lawyers on
work-life balance, networking and gender equity. She received the
Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 1987 and the President’s Pro
Bono Service Award in 2010.
Madigan is a partner at Levene Gouldin & Thompson and founder of
its Elder Law Group. She concentrates her practice in trusts and estates
as well as elder law. Firm partners credit her with promoting
alternative work arrangements within the firm and improving diversity
within the partnership ranks.
She was elected president of the Broome County Bar Association in
1988, the first woman to hold the position. She has worked actively with
the Broome County Child Development Council promoting employer-supported
child care programs and services. She also chaired the Broome County
Child Care Task Force.
A cum laude graduate of the University of Colorado at
Boulder, Madigan earned her law degree from Albany Law School.
The award recognizes a State Bar member for his or her outstanding
contributions to addressing the concerns of women.
It is named for the late Ruth G. Schapiro, a nationally regarded tax
lawyer, who was the first female partner at Proskauer. Active in the
State Bar Association, she was the first chair of the Committee on Women
in the Law, the chair of the Tax Section and the Finance Committee, and
one of the first women to serve on the Executive Committee. She died in
1991. The Ruth G. Schapiro award was created in her honor in 1992.
The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest
voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in
1876.
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