The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) proudly announces its 2024 Lelia J. Robinson Award recipients and its Emerging Women Leaders in the Law Honorees.

Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, Governor Maura Healey and the late Honorable Maureen Mulligan

The Lelia J. Robinson Award honors women attorneys who have captured the spirit of Lelia J. Robinson, the first woman admitted to practice in Massachusetts. The award recognizes women who, like Robinson, are pioneers in the legal profession and who have made a difference in the community. In 2024, the WBA is proud to recognize three women who have excelled in their fields and made an impact: Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, Governor Maura Healey and the late Honorable Maureen Mulligan. Chief Justice Budd, Governor Healey and Judge Mulligan will be honored at the WBA’s annual Gala on Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at the Boston Marriott Copley Place in Boston, MA. The Gala, the WBA’s largest event of the year, is attended by hundreds of attorneys, judges, legislators, and business professionals. 

“We are thrilled to honor Chief Justice Budd, Governor Healey and Judge Mulligan as this year’s Lelia J. Robinson award winners,” said WBA President Alexandra Mitropoulos. “All three awardees exemplify the spirit of this award and its namesake – breaking barriers with skill and dedication to the law. Chief Justice Budd, Governor Healey and Judge Mulligan are extraordinary role models for women seeking to join and participate in the legal profession. I am in awe of their accomplishments and look forward to publicly honoring them for their tremendous work.”

CHIEF JUSTICE KIMBERLY BUDD

Kimberly Budd became the 38th Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court on December 1, 2020, when she was sworn in by Governor Charlie Baker. She was appointed as an Associate Justice on the Court on August 24, 2016. Born in 1966, Chief Justice Budd is the first Black woman and the youngest Chief Justice in Massachusetts in over 150 years.  Chief Justice Budd was first appointed to the Superior Court in Middlesex County by Gov. Deval L. Patrick in 2009. In 2016, she served as the Regional Administrative Justice for Middlesex Criminal Business.  She worked there as an Associate Justice until she assumed office at the SJC. 

Chief Justice Budd has broken down barriers in a predominantly white male court and industry. She continues to motivate and influence future generations of women and people of color throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. 

She received a bachelor's degree in English from Georgetown University, graduating magna cum laude in 1988, and J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991. She began her legal career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Joseph P. Warner of the Massachusetts Appeals Court in 1991. Chief Justice Budd went on to serve as a litigation associate at Mintz Levin, before serving as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in the Major Crimes and Drug Units. After that, she was a University Attorney for Harvard University in the General Counsel’s Office. She later served as Director of the Community Values program at Harvard Business School.  

GOVERNOR MAURA HEALEY

Maura Healy is the 73rd Governor of Massachusetts. She is the first female and LGBTQ Governor in the Commonwealth. Prior to her election to Governor, Governor Healey served as Attorney General, and has committed her career to public service. She is one of the first two lesbian women to be elected governor of any state.  

As AG, Governor Healey made headlines leading successful legal challenges to Trump administration policies (and sued his administration approximately 100 times). Governor Healey was the first AG in the country to sue the Sackler family for their role in the opioid crisis.  While head of the Civil Rights Division at the AG’s office, Governor Healey led the successful legal challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act at the Supreme Court.

Governor Healey graduated from Harvard in 1992 and from Northeastern Law School in 1998.  

Governor Healey is a long-time member and supporter of the Women’s Bar Association. She was a member of the inaugural Women’s Leadership Initiative class in 2009.  In 2022, Governor Healey spoke at the WBA’s New Lawyer Reception and shared lessons from her career, including the profound and continuing effect of the WBA in developing and sustaining a network of women attorneys, and extolled the importance of representation in the legal professional and beyond.

In 2018, Governor Healey was recognized with the WBA’s Outstanding Advocate Award.  The Outstanding Advocate is awarded to an attorney who has gone above and beyond to fight for the rights of women and minority groups, and the people of the Commonwealth, and as such, has embodied the WBA’s mission in their advocacy. 

Governor Healey was one of USA Today’s 2023 Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country.

THE LATE HONORABLE MAUREEN MULLIGAN 

Prior to her recent passing, Maureen Mulligan served as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court. Judge Mulligan’s career not only represents all that the WBA honors in the LJR award, but also a life that lived the values of advocacy, sisterhood, and sponsorship of women in the profession that is at the heart of the WBA’s mission.  

Judge Mulligan’s career arc is one of hallmarks in our profession – she taught law, became an equity partner in her firm, led committees on women in the profession, DEI, and Commercial and Business Litigation for the Boston Bar Association and American Bar Association, served on the Board of Bar Overseers and New England Chapter of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society, eventually culminating in her appointment as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court - all while raising up other women lawyers.  Notably, Judge Mulligan was a stalwart WBA attendee and contributor - a member of the WBA Business Development Committee and Women in the Courtroom Committee and serving as a mentor in the Women’s Leadership Initiative.

Judge Mulligan received a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and J.D. at Boston College Law School in 1990. She began her legal career after law school at Peabody & Arnold, LLP, in Boston. Her areas of practice at that time included professional liability defense and insurance coverage. In 1993, she became a part-time lecturer for two years at Boston University School of Law, teaching a course on legal research and writing to first-year law students. In 1996, Judge Mulligan relocated to California, where she first worked at the San Francisco law firm Sedgewick, Detert, Moran & Arnold handling professional liability defense cases before moving to Farbstein & Blackman, PC in San Mateo, where her practice expanded to include business litigation and intellectual property along with professional liability defense. Six years later, in 2002, Judge Mulligan returned to Massachusetts. She continued as a litigator at Ruberto, Israel & Weiner, PC in Boston, where she eventually became a partner. While there, she again expanded her practice areas to include internet, technology, and digital media disputes. In 2015, Judge Mulligan returned to Peabody & Arnold, this time as a partner, and continued to practice with the firm until joining the bench. In 2015, the American Bar Association honored Judge Mulligan with its Kirsten Christophe Memorial Award for excellence in Trial and Insurance Law.

Emerging Women Leaders in the Law Honorees

The WBA’s Emerging Women Leaders in the Law Award honors women attorneys who have demonstrated professional excellence or had a significant professional achievement in approximately their first 12 years in the legal profession, and either promote the status of women in the legal profession or contribute meaningfully to the equal participation of women in a just society. The 2024 awardees will also be celebrated and honored at the WBA’s annual Gala.  They are:

• Nina Dow, Bowditch & Dewey 
• Victoria Santoro, Santoro & Gray, LLC
• Lisabeth Jorgensen, MetroWest Legal Services 
• Tara Singh, Hinckley Allen

“This year’s group of Emerging Women Leaders is an exceptional group of women attorneys whose talent, leadership, and accomplishments thus far in their careers are incredible. The WBA is deeply impressed with their incredible work and looks forward to celebrating their contributions to the legal profession now and in the future.” said President Mitropoulos.