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 February 1, 2008

STATE BAR PRESENTS 2007 RUTH SCHAPIRO MEMORIAL AWARD TO HONORABLE JACQUELINE SILBERMANN

Honoree cited for commitment to women’s rights and creating domestic violence awareness

NEW YORK--The New York State Bar Association today announced that the Honorable Jacqueline Winter Silbermann has been awarded the 2007 Schapiro Memorial Award.  Silbermann will be honored at today’s House of Delegates Meeting. 

Silbermann currently serves as Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters.  Her career achievements include: the first female appointment to Administrative Judge of the Civil Court of the City of New York in 1989; her 1990 election to the Supreme Court in New York County; and her 1997 appointment to Administrative Judge for Matrimonial Matters.

The award, named after Ruth G. Schapiro, a tireless advocate for women’s issues, honors a member of the association who makes positive contributions in areas such as domestic violence, child abuse, bias, health and other concerns of women in the profession and in public life.

The Association’s Committee on Women in the Law (CWIL) named the award to honor the memory of Ms. Schapiro, who was the Committee’s first chair. Under Schapiro’s leadership, CWIL established educational programs and publications for the public and for lawyers.  In 1987, the Committee issued its first report on issues affecting women, which was a springboard for increasingly meaningful actions that have contributed to the progress of women in the law, and in particular, women’s issues.

“I am immensely honored to be receiving this award memorializing Ruth Schapiro, a true pioneer for women in the legal profession.   Moreover, I am proud to be in the distinguished company of the past recipients of this award, for whom I have such high regard and deep affection.  While young lawyers today have certainly benefited from the efforts of Ruth Schapiro and others who have followed in her footsteps, we all need to remember our obligation to be mentors and role models for the newer members of the profession.  It has been both an honor and a privilege to serve as a jurist over the past twenty years, and it is my sincere hope that my efforts in the areas of family law and children’s rights will serve to inspire those who will follow me in this vital work,” said Silbermann.

Silbermann graduated from Bryn Mawr College, cum laude, in 1959 and began her career as a high school math teacher before switching to social studies.  She earned her law degree from the Fordham University School of Law, cum laude, in 1972.

She has written several articles in the New York Law Journal on matrimonial matters and law settlements.  Widely regarded among New Yorkpractitioners for her judicial intelligence, ethics and compassion, she is noted for her unwavering commitment to women’s rights and creating domestic violence awareness. 

Silbermann serves on the board for the New York Women’s Bar Association and Fordham University School of Law. She is a member of the Association’s Family Law and Judicial Sections and a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation.

The Ruth G. Schapiro Award, given annually since 1992, was first presented to the Hon. Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York.  Previous Schapiro Award winners have been the Hon. Judith S. Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, past State Bar presidents Maryann Saccomando Freedman of Buffalo and M. Catherine Richardson of Syracuse; the Hon. Sondra Miller, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department; the Hon. Betty Weinberg Ellerin, Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, First Department; Bay Shore practitioner Anne Mead; CUNY Law School Dean Kristin Booth Glen; Catherine J. Douglass, executive director of inMotion; Edith Spivack, awarded posthumously; and Rhonda Copelon, Co-Founder and Director of CUNY’s International Women’s Human Rights Clinic.

The 74,000 member New York State Bar Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers in New Yorkand the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation.  Founded in 1876, NYSBA programs and activities have continuously served the public and improved the justice system for more than 130 years.

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