Pauline Weaver, past president of both the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and California Women Lawyers, is the 2024 recipient of the John H. Pickering Award of Achievement, presented by the American Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division. Weaver will be recognized at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 3, as part of the ABA Annual Meeting, which will be held July 31-Aug. 6 in Chicago.
The award honors the life and accomplishments of John H. Pickering, co-founder of the Washington, D.C., law firm formerly known as Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale), who was involved in a variety of pro bono activities and law-related societal issues affecting older adults. It recognizes lawyers or judges who demonstrate outstanding legal ability and have compiled a distinguished record of service to the profession and their communities, resulting in significant contributions to improving access to justice for all.
Originally from England, Weaver came to the U.S. at age 11. She earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree from University of Memphis in Tennessee. After passing the California bar in 1980, she became a public defender for Alameda County and worked there until 2011.
In addition to leading the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and California Women Lawyers, Weaver has served as secretary of the American Bar Association and has sat on the ABA Board of Governors. She has worked to improve the legal system through education and involvement in local, state and national bar associations. She assumed governing roles on numerous boards, committees and commissions, including the ABA, the State Bar of California, the Foundation of the State Bar and the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission.
A contributor to organizations for broad societal and legal goals, Weaver has worked for years as an advocate for health and human services for citizens of her hometown of Fremont, California. In May 2019, a Fremont senior residential center was named after her to honor her longtime advocacy work for affordable housing in California. The breadth of her work and commitment also is demonstrated as a founding member of Interfaith Women of Peace, a group that works in the community for understanding and peaceful interaction among different religious faiths. She has also served as a literacy volunteer and a mentor for recent parolees.
Weaver has always participated in civic affairs in exceptional ways. She has served as chair of the Fremont Planning Commission, the Sister City Commission, the Washington Hospital Healthcare Foundation and the Fremont Symphony. For 13 years she was a board member of Shelter Against Violent Environments (now Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments) and co-founded SAVE’s Legal Clinic Program. She has been a longtime member of League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.
Weaver was one of four women to join Rotary International in California after the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision banned the club’s exclusion of women. She is now in her third term as chair of the Center for Civic Education and was a 2007 delegate to the World Congress on Civic Education in Morocco. She has traveled twice to the Military Commission Hearings at Guantanamo, Cuba, as an observer for the ABA. Weaver has received numerous awards for her legal and civic work, including the 2013 ABA Nelson Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the association by a government or public sector lawyer. Additionally, she was the recipient of the Judith Soley Lawyer as Citizen Award from California Women Lawyers. She also has been honored as a Woman of Achievement by Alameda County and was 1988 Woman of the Year in the 19th Assembly District.
The award honors the life and accomplishments of John H. Pickering, co-founder of the Washington, D.C., law firm formerly known as Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering (now WilmerHale), who was involved in a variety of pro bono activities and law-related societal issues affecting older adults. It recognizes lawyers or judges who demonstrate outstanding legal ability and have compiled a distinguished record of service to the profession and their communities, resulting in significant contributions to improving access to justice for all.
Originally from England, Weaver came to the U.S. at age 11. She earned a bachelor’s degree and law degree from University of Memphis in Tennessee. After passing the California bar in 1980, she became a public defender for Alameda County and worked there until 2011.
In addition to leading the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations and California Women Lawyers, Weaver has served as secretary of the American Bar Association and has sat on the ABA Board of Governors. She has worked to improve the legal system through education and involvement in local, state and national bar associations. She assumed governing roles on numerous boards, committees and commissions, including the ABA, the State Bar of California, the Foundation of the State Bar and the Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission.
A contributor to organizations for broad societal and legal goals, Weaver has worked for years as an advocate for health and human services for citizens of her hometown of Fremont, California. In May 2019, a Fremont senior residential center was named after her to honor her longtime advocacy work for affordable housing in California. The breadth of her work and commitment also is demonstrated as a founding member of Interfaith Women of Peace, a group that works in the community for understanding and peaceful interaction among different religious faiths. She has also served as a literacy volunteer and a mentor for recent parolees.
Weaver has always participated in civic affairs in exceptional ways. She has served as chair of the Fremont Planning Commission, the Sister City Commission, the Washington Hospital Healthcare Foundation and the Fremont Symphony. For 13 years she was a board member of Shelter Against Violent Environments (now Safe Alternatives to Violent Environments) and co-founded SAVE’s Legal Clinic Program. She has been a longtime member of League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women.
Weaver was one of four women to join Rotary International in California after the 1987 U.S. Supreme Court decision banned the club’s exclusion of women. She is now in her third term as chair of the Center for Civic Education and was a 2007 delegate to the World Congress on Civic Education in Morocco. She has traveled twice to the Military Commission Hearings at Guantanamo, Cuba, as an observer for the ABA. Weaver has received numerous awards for her legal and civic work, including the 2013 ABA Nelson Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the association by a government or public sector lawyer. Additionally, she was the recipient of the Judith Soley Lawyer as Citizen Award from California Women Lawyers. She also has been honored as a Woman of Achievement by Alameda County and was 1988 Woman of the Year in the 19th Assembly District.
