This year’s award recipients were the Honorable Judith Wizmur, former Chief Judge and current Judge of the US Bankruptcy Court, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, Associate Justice of the NJ Supreme Court of New Jersey, the Honorable Jennifer Velez, Commissioner of the NJ Department of Human Services, Lucinda Long, Esq., Senior VP and General Counsel of Valley National Bank, Lynda Bennett, Esq., NJWLA Past President and Member, Lowenstein Sandler, LLP and Frances V. Bouchoux, Esq., Associate Dean of Rutgers Law School, Newark Campus, who was presented with the 2013 Trailblazer Award. The Honorable Madeline Cox Arleo served as the Mistress of Ceremonies, and NJWLA President Galit Kierkut and President-Elect Suzanne Cerra discussed NJWLA’s accomplishments over the last year and goals for next year.

The Keynote address was delivered this year by Former White House Press Secretary, and Author of Why Women Should Rule the World, Dee Dee Myers. Ms. Myers highlighted the benefits of bringing women into the conversation, the unique perspective that women provide and the contributions that women make in the workplace. She also discussed why organizations like NJWLA were still relevant to help shape the future of women lawyers and assist them on their pathway to leadership and success.

At the Gala, NJWLA was very proud to announce the recipients of its inaugural Grant Program which granted $30,000 to recipients such as National Association of Women Laywers, the Alice Paul Institute, the National Association of Women Judges, and NJLEEP. In NJWLA’s annual tradition, scholarships were awarded to three deserving female law students from each of New Jersey’s law schools, who wrote the winning essays that appeared in the 2013 Gala Journal.