CBA Record July-August 2024
Founder’s Award criteria but has been qualified to practice law for 15 years or less, was awarded to Alexis Crawford Douglas, K & L Gates. Crawford Douglas concentrates her practice in intellectual property and han dles a range of counseling, transactional, and litigation matters related to trade marks, domain names, social media, and copyrights. She provides strategic man agement of global trademark portfolios for clients ranging from multi-national to start-up companies in a variety of industries. She advises clients in trade mark and copyright disputes, including representing them in litigation matters in federal courts and before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. She counsels cli ents in dealing with cybersquatting and online infringement matters, and website and social media takedowns involving the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. She also counsels clients on intellectual property issues in complex commercial transactions. Outside of the firm, Crawford Doug las focuses on work in service to the legal profession, serving the CBA on its 150th Anniversary Celebration committee and as past co-chair of its Women’s History Month programming and member of the Board of Managers, along with several positions in the Young Lawyers Section. She is also active in the Richard Linn Inn of Court and the International Trade mark Association. The awards celebration took place at the CBA Building and was spon sored by Aronberg Goldgehn, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, LexisNexis, and Nijman Franzetti LLP. The Alliance for Women works within the CBA to advance interests of women in the legal profession and the larger community. Through speaker forums, debates, meetings, networking events and direct community service, the Alliance tackles issues including career advance ment, balancing work with outside inter ests, cultural diversity, ending violence against women, community service, and equality in education. To join the Alli ance for Women, sign up at www.chica gobar.org.
Alliance for Women Honors Outstanding Women Lawyers By Ann Glynn, CBA Public Affairs Director Alexis Crawford Douglas Terri Mascherin
T he CBA’s Alliance for Women pre sented their annual awards recog nizing outstanding women lawyers who have significantly contributed to the advancement of women in the legal pro fession or other areas and whose careers exemplify the highest level of professional achievement, ethics, and excellence. Founder’s Award The Founder’s Award, given to women who have demonstrated a sustained, active commitment to the advancement of women throughout their careers, was awarded to Terri Mascherin of Jenner & Block LLP. Mascherin’s impact on the Chicago legal industry extends far beyond her role as a partner and Litigation Depart ment Co-Chair at Jenner & Block. She served as President of the Chicago Bar Association, is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers (and former chair of the State Committee) and is an active member of The Chicago Network. Throughout her career, she has empow ered women through mentorship and worked to elevate the next generation of women lawyers and changemakers. Her mentees have gone on to become partners at Jenner and ascend to leadership roles in
the firm, become global heads of compli ance elsewhere, and take on other influ ential roles. Through the CBA, she has mentored women who have gone on to take prominent positions, including CBA President. For 10 years, Mascherin co-chaired Jenner’s Professional Responsibility prac tice, which represents lawyers and law firms that are sued for malpractice. Mem bers of the broader legal community have relied on her guidance, and she has spoken on legal ethics and given presentations to the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, multiple in-house legal departments, the CBA, and the American Bar Association. Most importantly, she has embodied professional responsibility through her pro bono service, which focuses on secur ing justice for those wrongfully accused and convicted. Her work has included successfully challenging sentences of two men on Illinois’ death row and defending former Illinois Governor George Ryan’s clemency orders clearing death row for 167 prisoners. Alta May Hulett Award The Alta May Hulett Award, named for the first woman lawyer in Illinois and awarded to a woman who meets the
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