On April 17 the Elon Law Women’s Law Association celebrated students, faculty and legal professionals at the 5th Annual Women in the Profession Dinner. This year’s honoree for the “Outstanding Woman in the Profession” award was the Honorable Judge Teresa H. Vincent.
“We selected Judge Vincent for her tireless efforts to help put an end to domestic violence.” said Mallory Horne L’14, the Women’s Law Association (WLA) Professionalism Chair and organizer of this year‘s dinner. “We felt like Judge Vincent was a great role model for all the members of the WLA. She exemplifies what we can all strive to become – community oriented, successful and caring.”
Judge Vincent is a district court judge for the 18th district of North Carolina and was first elected to the bench in 2000. Prior to becoming a judge she worked for seven years as an assistant district attorney. Vincent attended North Carolina Central University for both her undergraduate and law degrees.
For the second consecutive year the Women’s Law Association also honored an Elon Law alumna. This year’s honoree for the “Outstanding Alumna in the Profession” award was Tiffany Atkins L’11. Atkins is a staff attorney with Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. in their Greensboro office where she primarily works with clients having domestic violence and other family law issues. She attended college at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
“Our theme for the dinner this year was ‘Women Helping Women,’” said Horne. “This was chosen to keep with the overall year-long theme of domestic violence outreach.”
Throughout the year, the Women’s Law Association supported efforts to prevent domestic violence in Guilford County through a community information session and choosing domestic violence as the health issue to benefit at the organization’s Annual 5k Race for Women’s Health.
Organization members hoped that the dinner’s theme served as a final reminder of the importance of domestic violence outreach as they transitioned leadership to the newly elected officers.
Previous “Outstanding Women in the Profession” award honorees have included: Janet McAuley Blue, managing attorney at Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc.; Polly Sizemore, assistant public defender and former Guilford County District Court judge; Rhoda Billings, former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court; and Catherine Eagles, a United States District Court judge for the Middle District of North Carolina.
More information about the Women’s Law Association at Elon Law is available here.