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WLS
Awards 2003 Frances Newell Carr Award to Judge Hersher The Honorable Judy H. Hersher was awarded the Frances Newell Carr Award for 2003 by Women Lawyers of Sacramento at a dinner held on April 3, 2003 to celebrate WLS's 40th anniversary. Judge Hersher was selected to receive this prestigious award because of her contributions to women and children in our community, her achievements in the legal profession and now in the judiciary, and her commitment to furthering legal opportunities for women in the law.
The Frances Newell Carr Award was established by WLS in 1994 to honor the late Justice Frances Newell Carr, who was a founder and the first president of WLS in 1962. Justice Carr, who was appointed to the Superior Court in Sacramento by Governor Jerry Brown in 1975, was the first woman to serve in our Superior Court. In 1978, she was elected the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, and in 1980, she was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal. She continued to serve as a Justice of the Third District Court of Appeal until she passed away in 1992. Justice Carr was known for her legal excellence, analysis, and careful consideration of the issues. She was an exceptional individual, who had vision and commitment to her profession and her community. Like Frances Newell Carr, Judy Hersher has always been a woman who pioneered and paved the way for women in the legal profession. In 1981-1982, while a law student at UC Davis, Hersher helped create the first California on-campus cooperative daycare model, which was also one of the first in the country. When Hersher first joined the firm of Downey, Brand, Seymour and Rohwer in 1984, she was a controversial hire because she had two small children. While at Downey Brand, Hersher faced all the issues confronting working women, and she was instrumental in establishing the firm's policies concerning extended maternity leave, part-time employment, partnership track for women, and a part-time partnership track. As a woman litigator, and first woman partner with children at Downey Brand, Hersher fought hard for credibility and financial remuneration, and she served as a mentor to female associates. Hersher was the Client Services Development Partner at Downey Brand from 1995-96, and in that capacity, she was responsible for the firm's community and media relations and the funding of the firm's diverse community-based activities. She served on the firm's Management/Executive Committee from 1997-2000. Hersher's practice at Downey Brand emphasized civil litigation in state and federal courts, and she earned a reputation in the legal community as a skillful litigator, as well as an ethical attorney. She litigated challenging and complex cases, some of high profile and first impression. In February, 2001, Hersher was appointed to the Sacramento County Superior Court, where she is currently assigned to the Family Law Court. Judge Hersher describes her current position as one of the most stressful jobs that she's had because of the importance of protecting children's best interests during the time when their parents are the most vulnerable and emotional. When asked why she wanted to be a judge, Hersher responded that she gets a sense of personal fulfillment from having an impact on society through her everyday work, and from applying principles of truth and justice to achieve the right outcome. The Sacramento County Bar Association named Hersher Humanitarian of the Year in 2000 for her involvement in the community, including her leadership in the formation of the Sacramento Hate Crimes Task Force in 1994, following a series of fire bombings of a local synagogue, an NAACP office, and a Japanese-American organization. Hersher pulled together a broad-based task force including minority groups, gays and lesbians, and others, which became the Sacramento-area hate crimes task force. This group later became a model for other districts, and the U.S. Attorney's Office created a similar task force in the Eastern District of California. Hersher received the Bayard Rustin Award for Civil Rights in June 1995 in recognition of her efforts to extend civil rights and hate crime protection to the Sacramento community. Hersher was also responsible for establishing a program that distributed money from the Schwab-Rosenhouse Foundation to the local community through scholarships and a resource center for college bound students. She has been involved in the League of Women Voters, and served as a member on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' Standing Committee on Gender, Race, Religious and Ethnic Fairness. Hersher has always been very involved in professional activities, and has been an active member of Women Lawyers of Sacramento, where she served on the Board of Directors from 1988-1991. She is also an active member of the Sacramento County Bar Association, California Women Lawyers, and the State Bar Litigation and Real Property Sections. She is a life member of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inns of Court. Remarkably, Hersher has achieved equilibrium in her life, successfully balancing her family, busy career, community involvement, social and professional activities. She and her husband, Michael Hersher, have three wonderful children, Sofi, Jessie, and Ari. She is a devoted and involved parent and wife, and also maintains a good personal balance, finding time to bicycle, run, and participate in social events. Judge Judy H. Hersher exemplifies all the characteristics envisioned by the Frances Newell Carr Award. She joins previous recipients of the award including: the Honorable Alice Lytle (1994), Virginia Mueller (1995), the Honorable Cecily Bond (1996), Charity Kenyon (1997), the Honorable Faith Geoghegan (1998), Marian Johnston (1999), Professor Martha West (2000), Joan Stone (2001), and Lily Spitz (2002). May/June 2003 |
