It is indeed my honor and privilege to lead SCWLA as your President in 2009. I have been a member of the South Carolina Women Lawyers Association since I was a student at the USC School of Law. I am not going to tell you how long ago that was, but what I remember most about joining as an associate member of SCWLA was meeting and networking with some of the most amazing women attorneys -- Betsy Gray, Sarah Leverette, Elaine Fowler, Janet Butcher, Sue “Corky” Harper, Aphrodite Konduros, and last but certainly not least, Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal, just to name a few.

We have much to be excited about this year. First, our new website will allow all our 720 members to enter their professional information in a membership directory that women lawyers from across the state can use as a referral source. We hope that the website will prove to be a valuable resource for our members and in return will boost our membership. We currently have over 3,000 licensed female attorneys in South Carolina so there are many more potential members to recruit. I encourage each of you to invite a friend or colleague to join SCWLA. We will regularly update information on the website to bring more up-to-date news on our members, new case law, and matters of general interest to our membership. We will also highlight the work of our individual members. This website is designed by women for women because women make a difference in South Carolina.

I am also excited that in 2009 SCWLA and the South Carolina Bar in partnership with the North Carolina Women’s Bar Association will host our annual CLE in Charleston on September 30, 2009. This year we have the privilege of hosting Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. We will begin the three day event with a reception at the SC Aquarium. The following evening we will have the unique opportunity to dine with Justice O’Connor as she is interviewed by one of her former Supreme Court Law Clerks. The Friday CLE program is shaping up to be one of the best programs SCWLA has ever hosted. Stay tuned to our website for more details on the CLE.

Many of you know that I am a freshman legislator in the General Assembly. I debated whether I should take the job as President of SCWLA this year with the demands of my new legislative duties. I am so thankful that I listened to my friends who encouraged me to serve as your President this year. I expect that I will gain valuable knowledge and insight through these two new experiences in my life. I look forward to sharing with you some of the lessons I will learn this year in both capacities. South Carolina is last in the nation in the percentage of women in elected office. We currently have 17 women in the House, and no women in the Senate. Women currently comprise 10% of the General Assembly while 55% of South Carolina voters are women. I am a strong believer in the ladder theory so eloquently espoused by our Madame Chief Justice. As a woman climbs the ladder of success, she should not pull it up behind her but instead leave it down for other women to follow. I have followed some great women in the legal profession and in politics. It is my sincere desire that SCWLA become a ladder group for all of its current and future members.

Godspeed,
Jenny Anderson Horne, President
South Carolina Women Lawyers Association