The Women's Bar Association is excited to announce that we are now accepting nominations for the 2025 Lelia J. Robinson Award!
The Lelia J. Robinson Award honors women attorneys who capture the spirit of the first woman admitted to the practice of law in Massachusetts. The WBA seeks nominees from diverse backgrounds who have demonstrated a base of community and/or organizational support for their activities. The recipient of the Lelia J. Robinson Award is honored at the WBA's annual Gala on October 22nd in Boston.
A recipient of the Lelia J. Robinson Award must be a female attorney who has:
1) achieved professional excellence; AND
2) has (a) influenced other women to pursue legal careers OR (b) opened doors for women lawyers in a variety of job settings that were historically closed to them OR (c) advanced opportunities for women within a practice area or segment of the profession OR (d) performed exemplary public service on behalf of women.
The first criterion, professional excellence, must be demonstrated clearly for the nominee to be considered for the award. For the second criterion, the awardee needs to fulfill only one of the four options, not all four, though fulfillment of more than one criterion is preferred. Concrete examples of the awardee’s contributions are helpful to demonstrate how the awardee has met the second criterion.
To nominate someone for the Lelia J. Robinson award, please complete the online form below. The form must be completed in one sitting. You may supplement the application by providing additional materials. Please email them to wba@womensbar.org with the subject line "2025 LJR Application Supplemental Materials."
The deadline for submissions is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 14, 2025. Late submissions will be returned to the nominator without consideration.
If you would like to preview the questions before submitting them, you may review a PDF of the questions HERE.