Women sweep the presidencies of nation's three largest organizations for attorneys

With the election of Mary Massaron Ross at the October annual meeting of DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar in New Orleans, women now lead the nation's three largest professional organizations for attorneys. In a field that has been typically dominated by men, the event constitutes an historic first for the legal profession. The presidents are: * Mary Massaron Ross, President, DR I-The Voice of the Defense Bar. * Laurel Bellows, President, American Bar Association. * Mary Alice McLarty, President, American Association for Justice (Plaintiffs Bar). "The story is, of course, much bigger than three women being elected president," said Mary Massaron Ross, the new DRI president. "It's a dramatic demographics shift in the profession. In 1963, only 3.7% of law school students were women. Today, it's nearly half. And that shift is part of a larger societal shift. For instance, we'll have a record number of women in the Senate next year. This says that America is more and more fully utilizing the talents of all of its people." Massaron Ross was born in Grand Rapids. She graduated from Marygrove College in Detroit and Wayne State University Law School. She is the head of Plunkett & Cooney PC's appellate practice group. Additionally, she has served as an active member and brief writer for DRI's Amicus Committee which files briefs in the United States Supreme Court as well as several state courts of last resort. She is a past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs where she supervised the preparation of numerous briefs filed in the United States Supreme Court. A former law clerk to Michigan Supreme Court Justice Patricia J. Boyle, she has also handled appellate matters before the Ohio Supreme Court, the Indiana Supreme Court, the Alabama Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, the California Court of Appeals, and the Third, Sixth, and Seventh Circuit Courts of Appeal. For seven consecutive years, she has been honored as a "Best Lawyer" in Best Lawyers in America® and in 2008 was named "Lawyer of the Year" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. For more than fifty years, DRI has been the voice of the defense bar, advocating for 22,000 defense attorneys, commercial trial attorneys, and corporate counsel and defending the integrity of the civil judiciary. A thought leader, DRI provides world-class legal education, deep expertise for policy-makers, legal resources, and networking opportunities to facilitate career and law firm growth. For additional information, log on to www.dri.org. Published: Fri, Nov 30, 2012

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