Mississippi Women Lawyers Association

"MWLA: Motivation, Willingness to Serve and Leadership"

It is hard to believe that summer is over and we are starting another fantastic year for MWLA. I am honored to be serving as President of MWLA this year, and am excited about the upcoming year. As many of you may know, I am originally from Virginia and came to Mississippi to attend Mississippi College School of Law. It never occurred to me that I would fall in love with the State of Mississippi, practice law somewhere so far from home, and become President of MWLA. But I am proud to now call Mississippi my home, and proud to call all of you my colleagues.

As I sat down to think about the 2011-2012 year, and began to brainstorm about a theme for our organization this year, I could not help but marvel at the number of female attorneys that hold leadership roles in multiple organizations and female attorneys that continue to run for office and win those seats. Motivation, Willingness to Serve and Leadership --- those three qualities perfectly describe the members in our organization.

This year, one of our goals is to continue to grow as an organization. Please take a moment to reach out to your colleagues, your friends, your neighbors, and encourage them to take the few minutes it takes to fill out a membership application. If they are not sold on MWLA, bring them with you to one of our membership meetings so they can see for themselves the benefits of being a member of our organization. Our membership application can be found on our website. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at jpitts@cglawms.com. Last year, we had a wonderful experience holding our membership meetings at the Historic Fairview Inn in Jackson. We will continue to hold our meetings at that lovely location. We have had great success with our Community Service Projects in the past years and look to continue that tradition this year. MWLA will continue its relationship with Dress for Success, and will be partnering with domestic violence shelters throughout the state. More details will follow about how you can help with these causes.

I look forward to serving as your President this year. Thank you for your support of our organization, and all that you do to make it stronger. Do not hesitate to give me any feedback on how we can continue to make our organization grow.

Jennie Pitts

MWLA President 2011-2012

Welcome from the President