It is with deep gratitude that I stand before you today as the incoming—and 34th—President of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, a proud chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. Thank you for the confidence you have placed in me and for the honor and privilege of serving this organization, whose legacy, purpose, and members continue to shape the legal profession in Westchester County and far beyond.

Today is an especially meaningful one. Just last year, we marked the fiftieth anniversary of this Association—five decades of service, leadership, mentorship, and advocacy. That milestone was more than a celebration. It was an invitation to reflect on where we have been, to honor those who brought us here, and to consider carefully the kind of profession—and the kind of legacy—we hope to leave to those who follow us.

Exactly 31 days from today, we will celebrate the 250th birthday of our nation. Let us not forget the important involvement of women at the time of our nation’s founding and ever since in defining and determining our own and our country’s destiny.

During the Revolutionary War, several wives of prominent patriots wrote letters and commentary providing prescient insight into how women should fit into the new republic. Perhaps most well-known was Abigal Adams. In a letter to John Adams dated March 31, 1776, she wrote:

“Remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors”.

She then warned her husband:

“Do not put such unlimited power in the hands of the husbands. Remember all men would be tyrants if they could”.

And she also warned him:

“If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a revolution”.

And we’ve been doing that ever since when proper attention was not paid to us.

Abigal Adams and others envisioned a new nation where women were viewed and treated differently, including:

Legal protections: She wanted laws to be more favorable to women, especially married women, who at that time had very few property or legal rights.

Political awareness: While she did not explicitly demand full voting rights, she insisted women deserved a say in laws that governed them.

Yet, in his April 14, 1776 reply, John Adams responded playfully—but dismissively—to the letter from his beloved Abigail. He wrote that he could not help but “laugh” at her request. He insisted that men would not give up their “supremacy,” though he suggested it was not exercised harshly. While affectionate in tone, his reply made clear that, he like others did not support expanding women’s legal or political rights at that time, highlighting that even those who led our American revolution limited their idealism when it came to gender equality.

Despite this, Abigal Adams’ words became an early and influential statement of women’s rights in the United States. They served as a precursor to later movements, such as the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, the first organized women’s rights convention in the United States, a two-day meeting attended by 300 people. That convention took place only 50 miles from where we just held our annual WBASNY convention right here in our home state of New York.

The attendees discussed the social, civil, and religious rights of women. The convention produced the Declaration of Sentiments, a document modeled after the Declaration of Independence, which declared that “all men AND WOMEN are created equal” and demanded equal rights—including the controversial call for women’s suffrage, a woman’s right to vote. The Seneca Falls Convention marked the formal beginning of the organized women’s rights movement in the United States. It was a landmark event in American democracy and social reform; it transformed women’s rights from a private concern to a national political issue, establishing a tradition of activism. Among other accomplishments, that Convention laid the foundation for the broader suffrage movement that culminated in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.

If you are skilled in math, you will note that the discussion that began with Abigal Adams’ words in 1776 progressed through the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848, and after years of struggle and personal sacrifice brought about the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920 – a period of 144 years.

Sometimes change occurs swiftly, other times it is painfully slow and takes generations. However, despite the time it takes, if the cause is just, it is well worth the undertaking.

And such effort continues to date since our cause is just.

The Westchester Women’s Bar Association mission statement states in part that we were established “to advance the social, economic and legal status for women through the law; and to expand opportunities for women”. We’ve come a long way, made great strides and enjoyed significant progress since that mission was established 50 years ago. Congratulations to us. But like Abigal Adams in 1776, there is still much more to do.

Fifty years ago, a small but determined group of visionary women lawyers came together at a time when women were grossly underrepresented in courtrooms, law firms, conference rooms, and judicial chambers. Their presence was questioned, their competence underestimated, and their opportunities constrained. We have heard many stories of these pioneer women, our founding mothers, being told by their professors on their first day of law school that they should not be there because they were taking a place away from a man. Despite this, they did not gather in anger. They gathered in purpose. That purpose is likewise captured in our mission statement: “to promote justice for all, regardless of gender; to advance the social, economic and legal status for women through the law; to expand opportunities for women and to raise the level of competence and integrity in the legal profession”.

These trail-blazing women, who saw possibilities and potential for our future, founded the Westchester Women’s Bar Association not simply as an organization, but as a community—a place of professional refuge, intellectual rigor, mentorship, and mutual respect. They understood that progress in the law is not achieved alone, but together; not through exclusion, but through inclusion and excellence; and not through hostility, but through determination, dignity, and civility.

From those beginnings, the Westchester Women’s Bar Association grew into one of the most respected bar associations in New York State and a vital chapter of its parent organization, the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York. The Westchester Women’s Bar Association, together with WBASNY, has amplified the voices of women in the law, influenced public policy, mentored generations of attorneys, supported judicial excellence, and strengthened the administration of justice across this State. That is no small achievement. It is a testament to courage, persistence, and shared belief.

But as our WWBA foremothers have always said, there is much more to do.

Our foremothers understood the challenges women faced in the law. They met those challenges with brilliance; not bitterness; with humility not hostility and always with professionalism. Central to that professionalism was a value that lies at the heart of my message today: civility.

Civility may sound like an old-fashioned word—quaint, even. But it is one of the most powerful words in our professional vocabulary—one we must intentionally reclaim as leaders in the legal community and the community at large.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor reminded us that “professionalism is not a set of rules, but a way of being”. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg urged us to “fight for the things that you care about but do it in a way that will lead others to join you”. Those principles guided our founders, and they must guide us now.

When many of us entered this profession, civility was not aspirational—it was expected. Disputes were fierce. Advocacy was passionate. But respect was demonstrated. Lawyers attacked arguments, not people. And when someone crossed a line, a senior lawyer quietly intervened and said, “That’s not how lawyers do things.”

Over time, something shifted.

The legal profession has changed dramatically. We have moved from handwritten briefs to electronic filings that travel at the speed of thought. Yet, civility has not kept pace with technology. Somewhere along the line, professionalism and courtesy began to erode. The tone of our times—both in law and in life—has grown sharper, and more polarized.

Unfortunately, incivility today is more visible, more tolerated, and more corrosive than ever.

And yet, we know better.

Our beloved Justice Judith Kaye was the longest serving Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and the first woman to serve in that role. Serving from 1993 to 2008, she stands today as the longest serving Chief Judge in New York State History. Her intellect and legal scholarship informed both state and national trends, including a renewal and reminder as to our obligation as professionals to be civil.

In October 1997, under Chief Justice Kaye’s leadership, the New York State Unified Court System adopted the Standards of Civility—a set of nonbinding aspirational guidelines aimed at promoting courtesy, respect, and professionalism among judges, lawyers, and court personnel. These standards were designed to respond to what she and others saw as an increasing erosion of traditional professional courtesy in the legal community.

Her key themes included:

• Encouraging Courtesy Without Sanctions
• Professionalism Over Antagonism
• Restoring Public Trust
• A Cultural Shift in Legal Practice

Civility matters because it is structural. It is the oxygen that sustains our justice system. Without it, trust erodes, legitimacy falters, and even the strongest institutions begin to fail. I know a judge who has said the following regarding attorneys appearing before him, “I appreciate competition, the zealous representation of a client, but I hate uncivilized conflict.” And truly, most jurors feel the same way.

Civility is not weakness. It is strength held in restraint. It is advocacy balanced by empathy. It belongs in our pleadings, our correspondence, our court appearances, and perhaps most importantly, in our interaction with clients, judges, and court staff. It belongs in the difficult email we hesitate to send, in the telephone call that could easily become an argument, and in the moments when disagreement tempts us toward disdain.

As members of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association, we carry both individual responsibility and collective accountability. We must lead by example. We must model the professionalism we wish to see. And we must rebuild—deliberately and urgently—we can reclaim the civility that once defined our profession.

This begins with small, intentional acts:

• Pausing before responding.
• Assuming good faith before bad intent.
• Standing for the court.
• Acknowledging court staff by name.
• Mentoring with generosity.
• Challenging arguments, not character.
• Speaking up—respectfully—when incivility occurs.

Little by little. Habit by habit. We must change our culture.

Amanda Gorman, the first ever National Youth Poet Laureate in the United States reminds us, “We are not broken, but simply unfinished… Let us not mirror the darkness we wish to move through, but light the path by how we choose to walk.” And elsewhere she adds, “For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it—and brave enough to be it.”

So, I ask you today:

If not now, then when will you, as members of the WWBA, be brave enough to be the light?

If not we—the members of the WWBA that has endured, evolved, and led by example for over fifty years—then who will lead the way by example?

Let us, as WWBA members, commit to being the generation of lawyers who restore civility not as an aspiration, but as an expectation. Let it again be the WWBA’s hallmark. Let the next fifty years of the Westchester Women’s Bar Association be remembered and known not only for advocacy, but for grace. Let us be remembered not only for achievement, but for professionalism, integrity and most of all civility!

I am deeply honored to serve as your President. I am inspired by your dedication. I look forward to working alongside each of you as we lead this extraordinary Association forward—together.

I would like to express my gratitude to our outgoing President, Jill Oziemblewski. Jill promised that she would “steer the ship of the WWBA”. She has done so with integrity, inclusiveness, energy, and grace. Under her leadership, the WWBA deepened member engagement, strengthened intellectual capital, and reaffirmed that collegiality and mentorship remain central to who we are. Jill, thank you for your extraordinary service

I also thank our officers and directors—both past and present—with whom I have had the privilege to serve, and the many members I have worked alongside during my twenty-four years in this Association. We truly make one another stronger.

I extend special thanks to Michelle Tarson, our archivist and historian and now Vice President, for preserving our legacy; to Past President Sherry Bishko for her guidance and friendship; to Deborah Scalise and Lisa Bluestein for their wisdom and insight; and to Vice President Tanya Breindel for her constant engagement and dedication.

Congratulations again to this year’s WWBA Award Recipients:

Mary Kelly: the WWBA’s founding member, the recipient of the WBASNY Joan L. Ellenbogen’s Award.

Rachel Chazin Halprin: the CEO of Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, the recipient of the New York State Bar Association’s Haywood Burns Memorial Award.

Hon. Kim Berg: the recipient of the WBASNY Betty Weinberg Ellerin Mentor Award - Judge Berg is the founder and driving force behind the WWBA Mentorship Program.

We are deeply grateful to our keynote speaker, the Honorable Rowan D. Wilson, Chief Judge of the State of New York and the New York Court of Appeals, for his leadership and for his willingness to again share his thoughts with us.

Finally, I thank my family and friends for their unwavering support—my husband, Barry Cash; our family; my sisters and their children; my son Samuel and his wife Emily; and dear friends who have walked this journey with me; my lifelong friend Roseanna Laricchia and her family; my dearest friend from college and law school Susan Campbell; I cannot forget that I am here because of you.

Thank you, and let us move ahead with strength, purpose, and civility.