Raise Your Hand: Mark International Women’s Day with Support for Gender Equity
March 8, 2021
International Women’s Day focuses on a single day, but every day Nyemaster SUPPORTS WOMEN IN ALL PROFESSIONS AND POSITIONS. When you look at women’s roles in the firm, you can see that employing and empowering women is integral to Nyemaster’s values.
In 2021, women fill Nyemaster’s two highest leadership roles for the first time. The firm’s Executive Committee elected Coreen K. Sweeney as Chair and Hallie Still-Caris as President. These two experienced attorneys are set to lead Nyemaster as business clients face new legal hurdles and ongoing economic stresses.
The leadership, legal skills, knowledge, and experience of women are recognized throughout the firm. At Nyemaster, 50 percent of department leaders are women and half of the attorneys the firm has hired since 2018 are women. Across the firm, 60 percent of our attorneys and staff are female.
Sweeney and Still-Caris lead a team that recognizes the value of diversity, inclusion, and equity. Of the 12 new shareholders admitted in the past two years, six are women:
- Leslie Behaunek, Labor & Employment and Litigation
- Lynn Herndon, Intellectual Property and Litigation
- Brianna Long, Labor & Employment and Litigation
- Colleen MacRae, Business, Finance & Real Estate
- Rebecca Miller, Tax, Estate Planning & Employee Benefits
- Naomi Smith, Business, Finance & Real Estate and Tax, Estate Planning & Employee Benefits
These new shareholders join the rest of the firm’s attorneys and staff to offer insightful counsel and timely assistance to clients. Together our team works to address employment issues, close transactions, navigate disputes, protect intellectual property, address tax questions, handle a range of matters in court, and work with government entities. Each attorney brings individual insights and innovative problem-solving to every case, transaction, and legal question.
Respected for their efforts, women attorneys at Nyemaster gain recognition and acknowledgment from peers, clients, and the community, including:
- Paula Dierenfeld has served as mayor of Johnston, Iowa, since 2008.
- Debra Hulett was part of the team that argued a landmark age discrimination case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Kathy Law chairs the Iowa State Bar Association’s Well-Being Committee to promote all facets of wellness in the legal community.
- Colleen MacRae was one of only 10 attorneys nationally selected for the Fellows Program of the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law (RPTE) Section.
- Wendy Marsh serves on the Board of Education for Waukee Community Schools, one of the largest school districts in the state.
- Mary Katherine Nelson is a member of the board of directors of Goodwill of Central Iowa and the board of CREW Iowa (Commercial Real Estate Women).
- Kristina Stanger was awarded the American Bankruptcy Institute’s 2020 Service to Veterans Award.
Celebrating efforts to promote gender equity deserves a day. The rest of the year, Nyemaster goes to work to put those efforts into action.