American Bar Association announces 2026 women lawyers of achievement

March 18, 2026

American Bar Association announces 2026 women lawyers of achievement

CHICAGO, March 18, 2026 - The American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession has chosen five women lawyers to receive its 2026 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. The award ceremony and reception will take place from 3-5:30 p.m. CDT on Aug. 2 during the ABA Annual Conference in Chicago.

This year's honorees are:

Cory M. Amron, co-founder and president of Women Lawyers on Guard Inc. (WLG), a national non-profit organization addressing four areas: sexual harassment, women's reproductive rights, gender and workplace equity and an increasing focus on protecting, restoring and re-envisioning democracy in this country. She was the second chair of the ABA Commission on Women. Amron retired from her intellectual property practice, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease, where she was the first chair of its newly formed Technology and Intellectual Property Group and the first woman member of the firm's Partner Compensation Committee. Amron is a graduate of the University of Rochester and Harvard Law School. Click here for a photo of Amron.

Sheila S. Boston, a litigation partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP. She is a trial lawyer and litigation strategist who defends clients from initiation of the case through trial and/or settlement. Active in bar associations, Boston is vice president of the Federal Bar Council. She is also a past president of the New York City Bar Association and was the first woman of color to serve as president. Boston is a graduate of Princeton University and Columbia Law School. Click here for a photo of Boston.

Judge J. Michelle Childs, appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in July 2022. She is a past president of the Federal Judges Association and has been named to the American Inns of Court Board of Trustees and the U.S. Supreme Court Fellows Commission. Childs is a graduate of the University of South Florida Honors College, the University of South Carolina School of Law and Duke University School of Law. She holds an honorary doctorate degree from the University of South Carolina. Click here for a photo of Childs.

Ramona E. Romero, vice president and general counsel of Princeton University. She is the former general counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Romero serves on the board of trustees of TIAA and on the boards of Legal Services of New Jersey and the National Association of Women Lawyers. She is also the former national president of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) and the founder of the HNBA's Latina Commission. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Romero is a graduate of Barnard College and Harvard Law School. Click here for a photo of Romero.

Mary Smith, a former president of the ABA. She was the first Native American woman in this role. Recognizing that there are serious threats to American Democracy, Smith created the Task Force for American Democracy as one of her Presidential initiatives. She is an independent board member and former C-suite executive. Smith currently serves on the board of PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT), a global biopharmaceutical company, where she sits on the audit and compensation committees. She is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago and the University of Chicago School of Law. Smith has honorary degrees from Seattle University and Loyola University Chicago. Click here for a photo of Smith.

"We applaud the achievements of this amazing group of women, who have and will continue to inspire all of us in the legal profession, including the next generation of women lawyers," said Karol Corbin Walker, chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession.

The ABA Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, established in 1991, honors outstanding women lawyers who have achieved professional excellence in their area of specialty and have actively paved the way to success for others. The award is named for Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in America. Brent arrived in the colonies in 1638 and was involved in 124 court cases in more than eight years, winning every case. In 1648, she formally demanded a vote and voice in the Maryland Assembly, which the governor denied.

Past honorees include U.S. Supreme Court justices, legislators, scholars, civil rights activists and powerhouse corporate lawyers. Winners are selected based on their professional accomplishments and their role in opening doors of opportunity for other women lawyers.