DRI -The Voice of the Defense Bar names four recipients of its Mary Massaron Award for the Advancement of Women in the Legal Profession for the 2019-2020 year. The four will serve as presidents of their respective sister organizations during the 2019-2020 year.
Named were Lori V. Berke, Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, Emily G. Coughlin, DRI – The Voice of the Defense Bar, Elizabeth F. Lorell, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, and Amy Sherry Fischer, International Association of Defense Counsel.
This award is created for a person who stands as an innovator and role model and one who has made significant efforts to advance women in the legal profession. The award is presented annually to a DRI member or members who have demonstrated a high regard for diversity and a commitment to advocating the inclusion and promotion of women as well as fostering women’s initiatives and actively promoting positive mentoring relationships with other women in the legal profession.
The award is named in honor of Mary Massaron who served as DRI president 2012-2013. Mary is a past chair of DRI’s Appellate Advocacy Committee and a co-editor of DRI’s “A Defense Lawyer’s Guide to Appellate Practice.” Mary’s appellate skills are widely known and have resulted in her membership in the invitation-only American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the American Law Institute (ALI), and IADC. A regular before the Michigan Supreme Court where she clerked for Justice Patricia J. Boyle, she chairs the Court’s Advocates Guild.
The award will be presented at the Women in the Law Seminar Awards Luncheon on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. at The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch in Scottsdale, Arizona.