Past State Bar President Kathryn Grant Madigan Receives Ruth G. Schapiro Award

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Kathryn Grant Madigan, Seymour James

ALBANY, NY (01/29/2013)(readMedia)-- Binghamton attorney Kathryn Grant Madigan is the 2012 recipient of the Ruth G. Schapiro Award, given by the Committee on Women in the Law of the New York State Bar Association.

Madigan, who was president of the State Bar from June 2007 through May 2008, was recognized for her dynamic leadership, effective mentoring and efforts to make workplaces more family-friendly. Madigan received the award on January 25 during the State Bar's Annual Meeting in New York City.

"Continuing the legacy of Ruth G. Schapiro, Kate Madigan is an important voice for issues affecting the legal profession and women at large. Kate knows firsthand the challenges that women, particularly working mothers, face. As such, she has worked tirelessly to encourage greater work-life balance and advance the status of other women lawyers," said Anna S. Park of Manhattan (Zeichner Ellman & Krause), co-chair of the Committee on Women in the Law. "We are pleased to honor such an outstanding role model."

"Kate leads by example and with flair. Her infectious energy and accomplishments have inspired so many female attorneys to become bar and community leaders. Many credit her for helping them find a path to leadership," said Sharon M. Porcellio of Rochester (Ward Greenberg Heller & Reidy), co-chair of the Committee on Women in the Law. "She is richly deserving of this award."

Active in the State Bar for 33 years, Madigan was the fourth woman to serve as the organization's president and is a former member of its Executive Committee. Currently, she is a member of the House of Delegates, the executive committees of the Elder Law and Senior Lawyers sections, and the Committee on Leadership Development, which she chairs.

Madigan founded the State Bar's annual Women on the Move Program in 2003, which provides practical advice to women lawyers on work-life balance, networking and gender equity. She received the Outstanding Young Lawyer Award in 1987 and the President's Pro Bono Service Award in 2010.

Madigan is a partner at Levene Gouldin & Thompson and founder of its Elder Law Group. She concentrates her practice in trusts and estates as well as elder law. Firm partners credit her with promoting alternative work arrangements within the firm and improving diversity within the partnership ranks.

She was elected president of the Broome County Bar Association in 1988, the first woman to hold the position. She has worked actively with the Broome County Child Development Council promoting employer-supported child care programs and services. She also chaired the Broome County Child Care Task Force.

A cum laude graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder, Madigan earned her law degree from Albany Law School.

The award recognizes a State Bar member for his or her outstanding contributions to addressing the concerns of women.

It is named for the late Ruth G. Schapiro, a nationally regarded tax lawyer, who was the first female partner at Proskauer. Active in the State Bar Association, she was the first chair of the Committee on Women in the Law, the chair of the Tax Section and the Finance Committee, and one of the first women to serve on the Executive Committee. She died in 1991. The Ruth G. Schapiro award was created in her honor in 1992.

The 76,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.

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