Event Overview
Thursday, January 19, 2023
9:00 AM – 4:15 PM — In-Person CLE Program — Beekman, 2nd Floor
1:00 PM – 2:15 PM — Luncheon and Kay Murray Award — Murray Hill East, 2nd Floor
4:15 PM – 5:30 PM — Reception — Nassau East, 2nd Floor
Friday, January 20, 2023
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM — Reception
6.0 MCLE Credits
3.5 Credits Areas of Professional Practice; 2.0 Credits Ethics and Professionalism;
0.5 Credit Diversity Inclusion and Elimination of Bias
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys
including those newly admitted.
Nineteenth Annual Edith I. Spivack Symposium
The Perpetual Gender Pay Gap: How Unequal Pay Negatively Impacts Women, Society, and the Profession
Section Chair
Sheryl B. Galler, Esq. | Book Law, LLP | New York, NY
Program Chairs
Kim Wolf Price, Esq.| Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC | Syracuse, NY
Laura Sulem, Esq. | Practical Law at Thomson Reuters | New York, NY
General Registration Fee
Required for in-person attendees.
+plus…
$150 Program Registration Fee
Optional Add-Ons
- $65 Kay C. Murray Luncheon Registration Fee
- $15 Reception Registration Fee
Thursday, January 19, 2023
6.0 MCLE Credits
3.5 Credits Areas of Professional Practice; 2.0 Credits Ethics and Professionalism;
0.5 Credit Diversity Inclusion and Elimination of Bias
This program is transitional and is suitable for all attorneys
including those newly admitted.
9:00 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Welcome and Introduction
Speaker
Sheryl B. Galler, Esq. | Book Law LLP; New York, NY
Kimberly Wolf Price, Esq. | Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC; Syracuse, NY
9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
The Perpetual Gender Pay Gap: How Unequal Pay Negatively Impacts Women, Society, and the Profession
Emily Martin, Vice President for Education and Workplace Justice for the National Women’s Law Center will speak on the perpetual gender pay gap. After providing a historical context on pay inequity, Ms. Martin will discuss the implications on women today and policy solutions being sought.
Speaker
Emily Martin, Esq. | Vice President for Education and Workplace Justice National, Women’s Law Center, Washington, D.C.
0.5 Credit in Diversity Inclusion and Elimination of Bias9:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Women’s Work: New Laws Addressing the Gender Pay Gap
Equal pay laws affect every aspect of the job hunt and hiring process, from job postings, to interviews, to salary negotiations and decisions. The new pay transparency rules and salary history bans are the latest additions to the mix. Why do equal pay laws exist, how must organizations comply with them, and do they accomplish their legislative goals? Our panelists, including a representative from the NYS Department of Labor, will present data on the gender pay gap and the negative impacts of the pandemic, resume gaps, and Dobbs on women’s earnings. They will walk us through the equal pay laws and how they affect your rights as a job applicant and your obligations as an employer.
Speaker
LaKeisha Caton, Esq. | Partner, Pryor Cashman LLP, New York, NY
Eden Forsythe, Esq. | Policy Counsel, New York State Department of Labor
Sima Saran Ahuja, Esq. | General Counsel, Marist College
Sheryl B. Galler, Esq. | Partner, Book Law LLP, New York, NY
Kim Wolf Price, Esq. | Attorney Professional Development & Diversity Officer, Bond Schoeneck King, PLLC, Syracuse, New York
1.5 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice11:00 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
Break
11:20 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
If I Had a Dollar: Breaking Down Pay Disparity and its Impacts in the Legal Profession and Beyond
The gender pay gap is perpetual. But what are the long-term impacts on individual women? On the legal profession? On society? This panel will analyze the data and discuss the intersectional impacts for women of color and other groups. They will highlight why legal employers concerned about business growth and advancement of women must pay attention to issues of pay disparity, and how new laws addressing pay inequity can help in that effort. The panelists also will present strategies to combat the pay gap and salary negotiating tips to assist women in the legal profession.
Speaker
Jennifer Diana, Esq. | Senior Legal Counsel, Government Investigations, Standard Chartered Bank, New York, NY
Shira Franco, Esq. | Partner, Davis+Gilbert LLP, New York, NY
Chinyere Okorocha, Esq. | Partner, Jackson, Etti & Edu, Lagos, Nigeria
Dawn A. Lott, Esq. | Executive Director, Suffolk County Human Rights Commission, Hauppauge, NY
Kimberly Brown | Career and Leadership Expert, Founder Manifest Yourself, LLC, Newark, NJ
Laura Sulem, Esq. | Senior Director, Litigation, Practical Law at Thomson Reuters, New York, NY
2.0 Credits in Areas of Professional Practice1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Luncheon and Presentation of Kay Crawford Murray Memorial Award
2:15 p.m. – 3:55 p.m.
Blurred Lines Between Business and Legal Advice: Navigating the Ethical Rules
Lawyers routinely advise clients on how to comply with laws and regulations in the course of conducting their day-to-day business. This includes explaining the intricacies of laws promoting equal pay and requiring pay transparency for newly hired, promoted, and transferring employees. But how do lawyers determine whether they are providing business advice or legal advice to their clients and how (if at all) does that determination affect their ethical obligations? And relatedly, what happens when there is a tension between what their clients want to do and what the law says they should do? What are a lawyer’s ethical obligations in this scenario? The panelists will address these questions, identify the risks of providing both business and legal advice to clients, and provide best practices for understanding and following the applicable rules of ethics.
Speaker
Ronald C. Minkoff, Esq. | Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC, New York, NY
Kim D. Ringler, Esq. | Founder, The Ringler Law Firm, Waldwick, New Jersey
Kaylin L. Whittingham, Esq. | Founder, Whittingham Law, New York, NY
2.0 Credits in Ethics and Professionalism3:55 p.m. – 4:10 p.m.
Business Meeting and Election of Officers
4:10 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
Closing Remarks
4:15 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Women in Law Section Networking Reception
2022 Ruth G. Schapiro Memorial Award Winner
Honorable Elizabeth A. Wolford
Chief United States District Judge
Elizabeth A. Wolford was appointed United States District Judge for the Western District of New York by President Obama on December 17, 2013. She became Chief Judge on July 14, 2021. Before assuming the bench, Judge Wolford practiced for over twenty years with The Wolford Law Firm LLP, where she concentrated her practice in civil litigation. Judge Wolford earned her B.A. from Colgate University in 1989, and her J.D. from Notre Dame Law School in 1992. She served as Research and Projects Editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.
Judge Wolford is a past president of the Foundation of the Monroe County Bar (2010-2012) and the Greater Rochester Association for Women Attorneys (“GRAWA”) (2003-2004). She also previously served on the Monroe County Bar Association’s Board of Trustees.
In 2013, the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”) presented Judge Wolford with its Root/Stimson Award, and in 2002 she received NYSBA’s Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award. Judge Wolford has also been recognized by a number of other bar associations, including the Western New York Chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (President’s Award – 2014), the Monroe County Bar Association (Rodenbeck Award – 2022, President’s Award – 2012), and GRAWA (Hanna S. Cohn Mentoring Award – 2008, President’s Award – 1999). In November 2010, she was recognized as a “Leader in the Law” by The Daily Record, and in November 2006, she received the Rochester Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 Award. In 2000, she was a recipient of a Special Service Award from the Court on which she now sits for excellence in the vigorous representation of a pro bono client.
2023 Kay Crawford Murray Memorial Award Winner
Jamie A. Levitt, Esq.
Managing Partner, Morrison & Foerster LLP
Jamie Levitt is a trial lawyer and managing partner of the New York office. She is also the former head of the New York Litigation Department. Her practice involves all aspects of complex commercial litigation, with an emphasis on securities litigation. She has represented public companies and their officers and directors in securities fraud actions, shareholder derivative suits, as well as U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory investigations. She also has experience conducting and defending corporate internal investigations and advising board committees and individuals with respect to investigations.
As a trial lawyer, Jamie has extensive experience representing companies in the courtroom in a broad range of commercial disputes, including consumer class actions, bankruptcy contested proceedings, real-estate financing disputes and intellectual property cases involving trademark, trade secret, and unfair competition claims. Her clients include companies, officers, and directors in a wide array of industries, including consumer goods, financial services, life sciences, technology, and real estate.
Jamie serves on numerous boards and committees of public interest groups, including having served on the Board of the Federal Bar Council and as past chair of its Public Service Committee; executive vice president and past chair of the Board of Advocates for Children of New York, Inc.; past chair of the Board of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest; member of the Board of VisionSpring; member of the Board of The Cooper Union; past member of the Board of the Center for Reproductive Rights; and the Legal Advisory Board for Sanctuary for Families. Jamie also sat on Morrison Foerster’s Board of Directors and its Governance Committee; was a former chair of Morrison Foerster’s Pro Bono Committee; and currently serves as chair of The Morrison Foerster Foundation.
Jamie received her B.A. magna cum laude in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. in 1992 from Columbia University School of Law, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an Articles Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. From 1993 to 1994, she served as a law clerk to the Honorable Nathaniel M. Gorton, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts.
Gold Sponsor
With more than 55 years of experience, Labaton Sucharow is a tenacious advocate for investors and consumers, offering complex litigation services in the areas of securities, corporate governance and shareholder rights, consumer, cybersecurity and data privacy, as well as whistleblower representation. Labaton’s successful reputation is built on its diverse team of more than 70 attorneys and has secured +$18 billion in landmark recoveries for investors. Offices are located in New York, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.
Ruth G. Schapiro Memorial Award Reception Sponsor
Kay Crawford Murray Award Luncheon Sponsor
Networking Reception Sponsor
