It is an honor serving as the 93rd President of the Queen’s County Women’s Bar Association, an organization I have happily served for several years. I have had the pleasure of serving as Vice President, Treasurer, Board of Director and State Delegate for QCWBA. I have co-chaired the Private Law, Installation Dinner, Judiciary Night and Diversity Committees as well. I call Queens County — and the QCWBA — home, fully recognizing how welcoming Queens is to those whose personal and professional roots may be elsewhere. I was born and raised in the Bronx. My parents emigrated from India and worked hard to provide me with the encouragement and motivation to excel in school. I obtained my Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Masters in Taxation from the University at Albany. I graduated with my J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law. I started my own firm with my husband and I have watched the practice grow. Today I am a partner at Shiryak Bowman Anderson Gill & Kadochnikov, LLP where I am head of the Trust & Estate and Immigration Departments.

With close to 100 years of history, QCWBA has provided mentorship, friendship, resources and inspiration to its members, especially women attorneys working and living in Queens County. As one of the most diverse counties in the world, Queens has attorneys registered from all ethnicities and backgrounds and is home to hundreds of solo and small law firms, many of which are owned by women. As a bar association it is our commitment to be a resource for our attorneys and provide them with the tools to succeed. The legal practice is stressful enough, now add payroll, rent, advertisement and the overhead costs and issues which come along with running your own business. I should know because I am an owner of a small firm and mother of two beautiful children.

A recent study by the American Bar Association in 2023 looked into the “walking out the door” phenomena and why attorneys, especially women, walk away from their legal jobs and practices. Child care was the first reason, followed by stress, and then in the third place – emphasis on marketing and generating business. The list goes on, but in just focusing on these three issues, they seem interrelated. In a different report also issued by the ABA, it is suggested that only about 14% of solo practitioners even have a marketing budget. This means that even in the age of social media and marketing, our members rely on the traditional referrals and networking events in order to increase their business.

When 5pm comes around, our members should not have to choose between attending networking events and spending time with their families. As President, it is my goal to expand our current resources to become more inclusive of members with their individual needs. Our Private Law and Mental Health Committees will work together to create more events and opportunities by keeping the goals of our members in mind. We will continue our efforts to bringing the bar a little closer to the bench and host more one on one opportunities with the judiciary as we did with the speed judging events and breakfast round tables.

I want to dedicate my time as President in further developing these outreach programs so we can better serve our members.

I look forward to getting to know all the members and putting together ideas on how QCWBA can become a bridge for our members’ success. My door will always be open, and I am ready for any ideas and collaborations.

I thank our outgoing President, Elizabeth Newton for all of her hard work and dedication. I look forward to working with our amazing officers and board members.

Past Presidents

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Chronology of Important Dates

November 22, 1638 – Margaret Brent arrived in Maryland to become the first woman lawyer in the colonies.

October 24, 1830 – Birth date of Belva Lockwood, the first woman lawyer to argue in the U.S. Supreme Court.

July 30, 1852 – Birth date of Emma Gillett. She and Ellen Spencer Mussey founded a law school for women, which later became American University’s Washington College of Law.

June 30, 1870 – Ada Kepley became the first woman in the U.S. to graduate from law school.

February 15, 1879 – Congress passed “An Act to Relieve Certain Legal Disabilities” allowing women to practice in all federal courts.

January 22, 1887 – Editorial in Daily Register (now N.Y.L.J.) warned that if women were admitted to the Bar they would treat law like fashion.

March 4, 1895 – Nelle Stanleyetta Titus, the first woman lawyer in New York, was admitted to the federal court.

April 3, 1929 – Charter Member Clara Fisch was admitted to the N.Y. Bar after having graduated from the “millionaire’s session” (afternoon classes) of Brooklyn Law School.

September 14, 1931 – Fourteen women lawyers met in Jamaica. Queens to discuss formation of a Queens County Women’s Bar Association.

February, 1940 – FLORENCE V. LUCAS was admitted to N.Y.S. Bar and immediately became a member of the Association. She was the first black women lawyer admitted to practice in Queens County.

May 6, 1960 – Joan O’Dwyer was the first woman to be appointed a Criminal Court Judge in Queens.

January 1, 1970 – Ann B. Dufficy was the first woman elected to the Queens Civil Court.

August 28, 1973 – Rose Rubin was appointed to the N.Y.S. Court of Claims.

January 1, 1974 – Joan Durante and Ann B. Dufficy were elected as the first woman Justices of the New York State Supreme Court, Queens County.

April 1, 1977 – Harriet George was appointed Judge of the N.Y.S. Housing Court.

January 1, 1980 – Geraldine Eiber, Yorka Linarkis and Martha Zelman became Justices of the N.Y.S. Supreme Court.

March 18, 1980 – Jenny Maiolo announced a special Association project to assist battered women and crime victims.

September 25, 1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor was sworn in as the first woman Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

November 3, 1981 – Pearle Appelman elected to the N.Y.C. Civil Court.