Amy Manning, the managing partner of McGuireWoods’ Chicago office and member of the firm’s Executive Committee, will receive the 2014 Top Women Lawyers in Leadership Award this week from the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois.
The prestigious award recognizes the accomplishments of trailblazing women lawyers who make major professional contributions through service in leadership roles. Manning, a 2014 Chambers-ranked antitrust litigator, has held key leadership posts at McGuireWoods and is chair of the American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, Civil Practice and Procedure Committee. She also has served in leadership positions with the Chicago American Diabetes Association.
“Amy inspires us all at McGuireWoods – women and men. She brings so much to our management team and we always count on her good judgment and determination. She is a worthy recipient of this recognition,” said McGuireWoods Chairman Richard Cullen.
Manning and five other recipients of the Top Women Lawyers in Leadership Award will be honored Thursday at a reception at Chicago’s Hotel Allegro.
Manning said the award particularly touches her because it is conferred by the WBAI, an organization that was formed in 1914, six years before the 19thAmendment was ratified, giving women in the United States the right to vote.
“I care very deeply about the advancement of women lawyers. While we still have work to do, organizations like the WBAI are critical to the mission,” she said.
Diversity and inclusion are among McGuireWoods’ core values, and the firm has been honored for its initiatives that advance the careers of its women lawyers. The firm recently was selected as one of the 2014 “50 Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers, the sixth time that McGuireWoods has been named in the survey.
“It’s very helpful to women who have chosen to pursue their law careers at McGuireWoods to have strong role models, and we are lucky at our firm to have such a person in Amy,” said Jackie Stone, chair of McGuireWoods’ Diversity and Inclusion Committee. “We’re proud that she has received this well-deserved recognition.”
Manning was elected to the firm’s eight-member Executive Committee in 2011 and became managing partner of the firm’s 115-lawyer Chicago office in 2012. She has served as co-leader of the AmLaw 100 firm’s life sciences industry group, co-chair of its national recruiting committee, and as a member of its Women’s Leadership Forum.
Manning was part of the group that founded the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law Firms, a nonprofit association dedicated to enhancing the recruitment, retention and promotion of women lawyers and supporting women’s initiatives in law firms and companies in the Chicago area. She also is a co-founder of the Chicago Women Antitrust Lawyers Network.
Her work with the American Diabetes Association also is close to her heart. Diagnosed with diabetes many years ago, she is a member of the ADA’s Chicago Community Leadership Board and served for two years as its chairman. She received the ADA’s Top Individual Fundraiser Award for the Chicago Step Out Walks in 2011, 2012 and 2013. McGuireWoods has been a signature sponsor of the Chicagoland Tour de Cure, an annual fundraising cycling event that raises money for the ADA.
“Amy’s qualifications, accomplishments and contributions proved to be stellar and the WBAI is very excited to recognize her as a recipient of the 2014 Top Women Lawyers in Leadership Award,” said Chloé Pedersen, co-chair of the WBAI awards reception.