“One Great Big Night” was a multi-location event for The Center for Women in Law that took place in six U.S. cities and was linked coast to coast via live-feed video on June 18th, 2013. I had the opportunity to attend the event in Houston at the invitation of Claudia Frost, a partner in the local office of DLA Piper.

Speakers Stasia Kelly (Co-Managing Partner, Americas, at DLA Piper), Linda Addison (Partner-in-Charge, New York, at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP), Linda Chanow (Executive Director, Center for Women in Law), and Ward Farnsworth (Dean, The University Of Texas School of Law) described their reasons for supporting the Center for Women in Law, an organization dedicated to the success of all women lawyers that was conceived by women, founded by women, and funded by women.

Career advancement and work-life balance continue to be elusive for women in the profession of law, and it was exciting to hear from some of the pioneering women who graduated from the University of Texas School of Law at a time when it wasn’t common for women to pursue law as a career. These women, some of whom have risen to the highest levels of the profession, still find that they face limitations of opportunity or encounter obstacles in their chosen profession. The Center for Women in Law will be a resource for women who are law students or who have graduated and are in the legal profession. It will continue to work with law firms and businesses to help encourage the advancement of women in whatever paths they choose after graduation from law school.

To find out more about the Center, please visit www.utexas.edu/law/centers/cwil.