AUWCL Alumni Featured in Washington Lawyer Magazine
March 12, 2021
While the American University Washington College of Law alumni network expands across the nation and the globe, many AUWCL graduates call the Washington, DC, area home – using their legal knowledge and passion for justice to serve the local community and beyond.
Five of our distinguished alumni have been included in the March/April issue of the DC Bar’s Washington Lawyer magazine. Learn more about how they have pioneered and fought for inclusion and diversity by Championing What Matters in the legal field.
Marcia Madsen Looks Back on Trailblazing Days
Marcia Madsen ’76 discusses her four-decade long journey in the legal space with the magazine, and offers advice for aspiring attorneys early in their careers – noting how different the field is compared to when she began practicing in the 80s. Madsen is a practitioner at Mayer Brown LLP. Among her many accolades and awards for service in the law, she was named to the National Law Journal’s Washington’s Most Influential Women Lawyers and the Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business. She’s also led several professional organizations and has testified before Congress on issues of procurement law and policy.
“I benefited from the example of a few very strong women who tackled working in what was viewed as a field dominated by men,” Madsen told Washington Lawyer. “It’s a very positive to see women and minorities [today] as partners in all fields of practice and in senior in-house positions.”
Falling Short on Disability Inclusion
Marissa Ditkowsky ’19 shares her own experience as lawyer with a disability in “Falling Short on Disability Inclusion.” The article underscores how the American Bar Association, American with Disabilities Act, and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission each have their own definition of disability, and how there is limited data available on the number of practicing lawyers with disabilities nationwide.
A Gallogly Family Foundation Fellow, Ditkowsky – who has muscular dystrophy and a hearing impairment – works at Tzedek DC; its mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with low incomes dealing with abusive debt collection practices and other consumer issues. Not viewing her disability as an obstacle, Ditkowsky tells Washington Lawyer, “My disability helps me have a unique perspective to lead this project,” adding that she also has “a lot of respect for my employers. They really help me and appreciate what I have to say.”
Standing on Her Shoulders: A Tribute to Judge June L. Green
The magazine features a tribute to the life of Judge June L. Green ’41, in recognition of the 20 years since her passing in 2001. Judge Green was the fourth woman in the country to serve on a federal district court, after President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed her to the District Court in 1968. The article discusses the many ways in which she broke barriers and inspired young women lawyers. Searching for a law school that would admit women, Washington Lawyer notes how Green was drawn to Washington College of Law – founded by two women and led by a woman dean.
Along with various career accolades, including having her own private practice for 20 years that handled a wide range of civil and pro bono criminal matters, Green was also president of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia in 1956, named its Woman Lawyer of the Year in 1965, and was the second woman ever to be appointed to the prestigious position of bar examiner in the District of Columbia.
Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession
Associate Judge Zuberi Bakari Williams ’03 tells Washington Lawyer of the microaggressions from court staff he’s encountered in the past, saying they “serve as a reminder because of who I am, what I look like, some folks think I don’t belong in this space. Even if it’s my chambers.” Judge Williams is one of the youngest judges in the history of the state’s judiciary, being appointed to the District Court of Maryland at the age of 36. Prior to being appointed to the bench, he served as assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia and administrative law judge at the Maryland Office of Administrative Hearings.
Judge Jill Cummins ’88 – who along with serving on the Montgomery County Circuit Court also serves as co-chair of Montgomery County’s Bar Association and as an adjunct professor at AUWCL – shared her own experience with microaggressions in the same article, “Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Profession.” Judge Cummins notes that throughout her legal journey she’s been told by colleagues her advancements were due to her being Black, rather than her legal expertise.
Judge Williams told the magazine that while he is encouraged by next generation’s energy for change and the efforts thus far to increase diversity in the profession, there is more to be done: “The reward for doing good work is more work. So we have more work to do.”