On April 21, leading women judges from the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and District Court of North Carolina spoke with Elon Law students about the value of diversity in the community of judges representing North Carolina's judicial branch of government.
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Robin Hudson, North Carolina Court of Appeals Judge Linda McGee, and Orange and Catham County District Court Judge Patricia Devine presented at the forum.
Hudson encouraged women students to think about becoming judges, applauding the increasing parity in the rate of men and women attending law schools.
Hudson noted that women are increasingly represented at all levels of North Carolina’s court system, although she expressed concern that only ten of more than 100 Superior Court judges in the state are women.
“Women have changed the quality of legal practice in a good way,” Hudson said, making the court, “more of an even playing field for people of all stripes.”
Devine told law students that her work as a District Court judge was rewarding, because each day brought unique types of law before the court and an array of legal issues and circumstances.
“Find something that you love and go for it, excel in it,” Devine said, encouraging law students to find a mentor in the judicial system and to consider work in the offices of district attorneys to obtain experience in trial court.
McGee discussed the importance of building social connections in the profession, noting that, as one of only two women attorneys working in Boone, North Carolina, early in her career, she joined every women’s association in town.
McGee, who was elected to the bench in 1995 and re-elected for an eight-year term, said there were no women on the twelve member Court of Appeals at the time of her election, although she was not the first woman to sit on the Court of Appeals.
McGee encouraged students to, “seek out mentors and friends and let them know your interests.”
The event was sponsored by the Women’s Law Society, the Externship Program, and the Office of Career Services at Elon Law.
