Dean Steinbock recognized with Toledo Women's Bar Association award
June 10, 2015
The Toledo Women’s Bar Association (TWBA) named Daniel J. Steinbock, dean of the College of Law, the recipient of this year’s Arabella Babb Mansfield Award, which honors “inspirational and highly accomplished lawyers in [the Toledo] community.” He was recognized during the TWBA Annual Meeting on May 29.
The award follows Dean Steinbock’s involvement in the Toledo Women’s History Project, a joint effort by the TWBA and the College of Law. The Project seeks to preserve the stories of women lawyers in the Toledo area. As part of the Project portraits created by Paula Mowry ’88, a College of Law graduate and artist, are on permanent display on the second floor of the LaValley Law Library. The display was dedicated in October 2014.
In his acceptance speech, Dean Steinbock acknowledged the contributions of many to the Toledo Women’s History Project, including the efforts of Arlene Singer ’76, a judge on the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals, who was instrumental in getting the Project off the ground.
“Entry of women into the legal profession in substantial numbers is probably the most momentous event in the last 50 years,” said Steinbock. “I have lived through much of this history myself in the many years since I started law school. There were about 12 women in my law school class of 180, about seven percent. Our entering classes [at the College of Law] now average 40-50 percent women.”
“Change of this dimension . . . has influenced all aspects of the practice of law for the better,” he continued. “[N]ot only for the women who have been given a more equal opportunity, but for all lawyers, and indeed for all citizens. There is more to be done, but the difference is striking.”
In his first job out of law school, Dean Steinbock clerked for Judge Constance Baker Motley, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She was the first and only African-American woman in the federal judiciary at the time. His co-clerk was a woman, so Steinbock was the only man in Judge Motley’s chambers – a real rarity then.
“Judge Motley liked to joke that I was around only to help move the heavy federal reporters,” said Steinbock. “When she was appointed, five years before my clerkship, she was one of just four women on the federal bench; women now represent over 30% of the roughly 800 Article III judges.”
Dean Steinbock thanked several individuals at the College of Law, including professors Rhoda Berkowitz, Susan Martyn, and Jan Wallin, and applauded the fact that the College now has the highest percentage of gender and ethnic diversity in its history.
The Toledo Women’s Bar Association is a professional organization of lawyers in Northwest Ohio whose mission is to encourage and recognize the contributions of women to the legal profession and improve and promote the advancement of women in the community through leadership, education, social networking, philanthropy, and professional development.