Paula H. Holderman to Become 137th President of Illinois State Bar Association

SPRINGFIELD, Ill., June 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Paula H. Holderman, chief attorney development officer at Winston & Strawn, LLP, in Chicago, will be installed on Friday, June 21, as the 137^th president of the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) at the organization's annual meeting at the Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis.

The 32,000-member ISBA, with offices in Springfield and Chicago, provides professional services to Illinois lawyers, and education and services to the public.

During her term as president, Holderman will place special emphasis on four major projects, with an overall focus on enhancing member services and new member recruitment. She has formed a New Lawyer Task Force, which will develop recommendations for the ISBA to help young lawyers succeed in the profession. Holderman will also concentrate on member services and marketing the tangible benefits of ISBA membership. "We will show the legal community that ISBA membership is not only relevant but the one membership that an Illinois lawyer needs," she stated.

Holderman will continue to focus attention on women and diversity in the profession. With her guidance, the ISBA launched the Illinois Law and Leadership Institute, a summer legal immersion program for high school students with an intensive curriculum that includes educational exercises and fun activities centered on the legal profession. The programs take place in Chicago and Carbondale and introduce students to careers in the legal field. Also, the ISBA will co-sponsor an event to commemorate the 120^th anniversary of the first national meeting of women lawyers at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

In her position at Winston, Holderman has global responsibility for the firm's professional development and all facets of education and training for its more than 900 lawyers. She is a nationally recognized authority in the field of professional development with 34 years of experience as a lawyer, legal educator and bar leader.

First elected to the ISBA Board of Governors in 2006, Holderman has served as chair of the ISBA's Budget and Audit Committee, the Bench and Bar Section Council, and Women and the Law Standing Committee. She is a long-serving board member of the Illinois Bar Foundation and past president of the Illinois Lawyers' Political Action Committee (LAWPAC).

Holderman is currently a Board Member of the Illinois Supreme Court's governing body on Minimum Continuing Legal Education. Holderman is the James C. Wood Distinguished Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Illinois College of Law and a member of the Board of Trustees of The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

A native of Lake Forest, Ill., Holderman received a B.A. in French from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1976 and a J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in 1979. She and her family reside in LaGrange, Ill.

SOURCE Illinois State Bar Association