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Ms. JD is proud to continue honoring exceptional women and men making contributions to the advancement of women in the legal profession through Ms. JD Honors. The Ms. JD Honors Reception will take place in connection with Ms. JD’s 12th annual conference, When Women Lead, at Northwestern Law on March 13, 2020. The Ms. JD Honors awards will celebrate those who demonstrate passion for their careers and share that passion with other men and women.

Nominations are due by Friday, January 24th.  

Below is a description of the awards and instructions for submitting nominations.

Woman of Inspiration Award - To a woman who, regardless of her practice area or type of practice, inspires others by her commitment and passion to her work. 

Student of Inspiration Award – To a male or female law student who inspires others through their commitment and passion to their legal studies, extracurricular activities or to a particular cause.

Road Less Traveled Award - To a woman who is using her J.D. in a unique, non-traditional, way to pursue an issue or cause that she is passionate about. (Need not be in legal practice.)

Sharing Her Passion Award - To a woman who has practiced for more than ten years who is inspiring younger women lawyers through sponsorship, mentorship, and sharing her passion for the practice. 

Women's Strength in Numbers Award - To two or more women who have partnered with one another to create a unique program, business, or organization. (The group may include men and the success need not be in legal practice.)

TIM Initiative Award – To a man who is an active champion for women’s advancement in the legal profession. Ms. JD launched The Incredible Men (TIM) Initiative in 2014 to celebrate men who not only value equality and diversity in the profession but earnestly and enthusiastically support women and women’s initiatives.

Law School Chapter Award – To a law school organization that champions the advancement of women law students through, for example, chapter initiatives (including pre-law initiatives), programming or recruitment.

Nomination Process:

To nominate an awardee, send all of the below information in a single email to Ms. JD's Programs Chair, Katie Day, at day@ms-jd.org. The subject line of your email should be “Ms. JD Honors Nominee for ___.” Please fill the blank with the name of the award you are submitting a nomination for. Nomination materials should include:

1. Links to the nominee’s relevant webpages (e.g. LinkedIn, Blog, Article, Twitter, etc.) (up to ten links).

2. Up to five letters of recommendation (not to be more than one page); OR we encourage you to submit up to five video nominations of less than 2 minutes.

3. Anything else you may find relevant for the committee.

4. The total submission should not be more than 20 pages or 20 minutes.

The Ms. JD Honors awards will be distributed at the Ms. JD Honors Reception which will take place on Thursday, March 12, 2020. We look forward to receiving your nominations!

Information on last year’s honorees is available here. Information on Ms. JD's 12th Annual Conference on Women in Law: When Women Lead is available here.