WBASNY Virtual Convention 2021 Journal

Associate Justice Ginsburg was sitting on the bench watching a group of 25 of us being admitted to the Supreme Court during Amy Littman’s presidency. We could feel her support of Women’s Bar simply from her intent gaze. Afterwards we were graced with her presence at a reception where she congratulated us on our admission. I took one of the best photos I have ever taken in my life, when Justice Ginsburg locked eyes with Amy Littman and introduced herself. The steely determination and passion for women’s rights was easily visible in her kindly face. As an ardent fan of RBG, and having seen both the documentary and the movie about her, meeting her and having her admit me to the Supreme Court was truly a life-changing experience. When I became president of WBASNY, I felt it very important to try to offer the same inspiring magic I had felt being admitted before the Supreme Court and meeting Justice Ginsburg. When we were requesting an admission ceremony for 2020, I took a good deal of time to craft a letter to her hoping that she might be the justice to meet with our group from WBASNY again, including sending her copies of my much prized photos of her. When you apply to have a group admitted to the Supreme Court you are allowed to write individual letters to all the justices but you cannot invite just one of them to meet you. On October 31, 2019, Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg replied that she would “be glad to greet new members of the Court’s Bar from the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York at the post-admissions reception.” The letter was signed “Every good wish, Ruth Bader Ginsburg” and in that signature I felt she encapsulated her mother’s wish that she always remain a lady. Shortly afterwards, some of us had the pleasure of listening to RBG talk in Buffalo, at a presentation co-hosted by the Western Chapter of WBASNY. It was a “sit-on-the-edge of your seat” entrancing interview and, even though she was not well at the time, her answers and comments were clear and extremely thoughtful. It was a magnificent night. When COVID struck, our admission ceremony for 50 women attorneys for May 4 was canceled. With her illnesses and sad passing on September 18, 2020, the group of fifty WBASNY women did not get to be admitted by her honor, and we mourned the loss of one of the most important feminists and intellects of our time. Her life was truly ground-breaking and ceiling-shattering for all of us women in the law. Deirdre L. Hay, Past WBASNY President (Finger Lakes Chapter)