Women’s Law Caucus Will Honor Jaime Hawk with Myra Bradwell Award

Jaime Hawk, 2004 graduate of Gonzaga Law and an Assistant Federal Defender currently on detail in All-Class Reunion, Centennial Gala, and Pursuit of Justice conference. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Washington, D.C., has been named the 2013 Myra Bradwell Award recipient. A ceremony and reception to honor Hawk will be held April 19th at 5:15 p.m. at Gonzaga Law School as a part of the Centennial Weekend at Gonzaga Law, which will also include the  the All-Class Reunion, Centennial Gala, and Pursuit of Justice conference. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

A Legal Career Dedicated to Women and Children’s Rights

Hawk began her legal career as a women’s rights fellow on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She worked on Violence Against Women Act reauthorization and was a member of Senator Kennedy’s team on the Bankruptcy Bill, supporting then-Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren’s drafting of legislative amendments in an effort to relieve disproportionate economic effects on women and children in poverty.

Now a federal defender, Hawk has served as an Adjunct Professor of Juvenile Law at Gonzaga. Before working in federal court, she received the President’s Award from the Washington Defender Association for her work as a juvenile defender, where she helped implement a juvenile justice reform project. She is also a past president of the Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, where she led public service initiatives focused on youth including efforts to combat teen dating violence. That year she was named “Star of the Year” by the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

Commitment to the Community

Hawk is active in a range of equal justice initiatives and works to support many organizations and bar associations that serve women and children and provide access to justice for low-income individuals and families. She has served on boards of Washington Women Lawyers and on the ABA Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence for several years. She is currently on the Board of the Center for Women and Democracy, promoting women’s leadership development and helping lead international delegations to Chile, Morocco, Vietnam, and Rwanda. Senators Murray and Cantwell appointed Hawk to serve on the federal judicial selection committee for the Eastern District of Washington.

Hawk’s dedication to improving the lives of women and children began many years ago and continued at Gonzaga. Before law school, she worked as a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate in Boston. As a law student, she represented immigrant children with Columbia Legal Services and spent a summer in the Balkans where she helped draft a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Violence Against Women report with a focus on domestic violence and sex trafficking. For several years after law school, she led statewide campaign efforts to address women’s human rights issues with Amnesty International. Hawk now co-leads an ABA effort to recruit and train lawyers around the country to represent children in immigration proceedings at no cost to the children.

Leadership in Law School

At Gonzaga Law, Jaime was a Thomas More Scholar and received both the Public Service Award and the John Morey Maurice Leadership and Service Award. She founded the law school’s Mission : Possible alternative international spring break program, now in its tenth year organizing service projects to benefit children and the local community.

About the Myra Bradwell Award

For 20 years, the Gonzaga Women’s Law Caucus has awarded this honor annually to a Gonzaga Law alumnus who has made a difference in the lives of women and children. The award is named for Myra Colby Bradwell, who was admitted to the Illinois Bar Association in 1890 after being denied admission 20 years earlier due to gender. Previous award recipients have included Washington State Supreme Court Justices Barbara Madsen, Debra Stephens, and Mary Fairhurst, Spokane Superior Court Judges Ellen Kalama Clark and Tari Eitzen, former Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire, Cheryl Wolfe, Victoria Vreeland, and many other influential women.

Please RSVP to the Myra Bradwell award ceremony by April 17th, 2013 by sending an email tomyrabradwellaward@gmail.com.