2019 Retreat Recap

Women Lawyers of Utah held its 2019 Annual Fall Retreat on November 1–2 at Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley. With more than 260 registrations, we had a record-number of attorneys, judges, and students attend the two-day event.

On Friday, we kicked off the event with massages, appetizers, wine, and a networking social with several fun prizes. We enjoyed a delicious dinner while WLU made several announcements, including the presentation of the Reva Beck Bosone Scholarship & Award to Cassandra James, Cara Snow Carleton Scholarship & Award to Laura Kyte, and the WLU Mentoring Award to Magistrate Judge Evelyn J. Furse.

That night we heard from Dr. Christy Glass, Utah State University. She focuses her research on gender and racial/ethnic inequalities and has published widely in top journals and featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, Huffington Post, CNN, and the Harvard Business Review. Dr. Glass’s presentation, entitled Equity & Inclusion at Work: We Need a New Plan, focused on her findings from her research about the benefits of inclusive leadership as well as the challenges non-traditional leaders face before and during their leadership tenure. She also focused on the failure of diversity efforts in professional organizations and present some bold ideas about how to build more equitable and inclusive organization.

During dinner, the attendees’ guests were invited to attend the poker suite and their children participated in games and other activities in the kids’ room. After Dr. Glass’s presentation, many of the attendees gathered at the hospitality suite to socialize and network.

Saturday morning, some attendees started the day with yoga. Breakfast was then served during a keynote speaker. Debbie Epstein Henry talked about our ambitions and strategies to develop and achieve our aspirations and career goals. Her presentation, entitled Women & Power: Getting Ambitious About Ambition, was lively discussion about how to further develop and nurture your ambitions and cultivate strategies to sustain and achieve them. Debbie is an expert, consultant, and best-selling author on careers, workplaces, women and law. She regularly speaks at retreats and events, including engagements in The Hague and in Paris at the French Senate. Her work has been featured by hundreds of news outlets, including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, and The National Law Journal.

Meanwhile, former chief justice Christine Durham led a discussion with the judges in attendance. The breakout session was entitled, Being Female on the Bench: What’s Happening & What’s Not Happening.

Notably, the Retreat was made possible by our generous sponsors, including more than 20 law firms. This event is largest WLU event of the year is consistently one of the most attended events in the Utah legal community. Through our generous sponsors, we were able to provide scholarships for solo practitioners, government employees, and students. We were also able to cover the costs of the event which usually exceeds $50,000 each year.