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Dear OCWLA Members,
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan first proclaimed the month of March as Women’s History Month, “to honor the achievements of American women,” and it has been officially recognized since. The National Women’s History Alliance has designated the 2025 theme as, “Moving Forward Together.”
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We had a busy January that included our board retreat, hosted by board member and 2025 OCBA President Elect Shirin Forootan. We worked together on our plans for the year and bonded over a line dancing lesson at Shirin’s beautiful home. On January 29, we hosted the first event in our Professional Tool Kit series, featuring headshots by professional photographer Erin Kaiulani of Erin Kaiulani Photo. The OCWLA was honored to support female make-up artists, hair stylists and jewelry vendors from across Orange County, and to provide our members with an opportunity to connect and leave with a great headshot. We are particularly grateful to Richard Stevens, Christine Barsotti, and Cindy Samarin at Stevens & Cross Cosmetics in Newport Beach for being such accommodating and gracious hosts for the event.
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We had two fantastic events in February. On Valentine’s Day, members, new members, law students, and OCBA's Mommy Esquire members convened to celebrate, share breakfast and connect with one another at our annual "Galentine’s Day" Coffee Meetup. Special thanks to Nico Johnson at Lexitas for hosting the event at his office, and to Silvana Sarkis, JD, and board member/membership co-chair Laurie Rowen of Montage Legal Group for their sponsorships.
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On February 18, at our first MCLE of the year, we were honored to hear from Justice Shama Hakim Mesiwala about historic women on the court of appeal, along with California Judicial Appointments Secretary Adam Hofmann, the Honorable Tania Vallejo and Justice Eileen Moore.
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The month of March will also not disappoint. On March 4th, we are hosting our annual Wine Event. This year’s theme is Mardi Gras. On March 24, our vibrant OCWLA Book Club, led this month by Martha Patterson of Geisler Patterson Law, will convene to discuss “The Women,” by Kristin Hannah. On March 28, OCWLA Past President Kelly Galligan will be presenting a 1 hour Technology MCLE with Michael Hellbusch of Rutan and Tucker LLP on leveraging Artificial Intelligence in your practice.
As part of this year’s effort to connect members to community advocacy opportunities, the OCWLA is participating in the Great American Write In on March 29th. At this annual event, different community organizations gather to offer opportunities to help people connect with local, state and federal representatives. OCWLA will have its own booth and work to connect members and the public to causes that are important to them, including those affecting women and children. For more information on this event, follow the link here.
As a reminder, Orange County Women Lawyers Association invites you to submit your nominations for our 2025 Awards, to be presented at the 2025 OCWLA Annual Gala. One tangible way you can support women is to nominate a colleague or organization for one of these awards. The nomination window closes March 28.
Thank you for your support of the Orange County Women Lawyers Association and we look forward to seeing you at our events this month!
Warmly,
Tracy Hughes
2025 OCWLA President
Robinson Calcagnie, Inc.
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