4th Annual Women in Law Leadership Lecture

The fourth annual Roger Williams University School of Law Leadership Lecture, featuring Jenny Ma, Esq., will be held as a fireside chat with Roger Williams University School of Law Professor Emily J. Sack.

4:30 PM  Fireside Chat - School of Law 283

Reception immediately following lecture.

Register Here

Jenny Ma is a Senior Counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights in the U.S. Litigation Program. She joined the Center in 2017, and is an experienced lawyer leading complex, high-stakes reproductive rights cases through all stages of litigation. She has represented the Center’s clients in state and federal courts throughout the nation, including in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi, where she was counsel before the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

Other examples of Jenny’s work include leading the first ever proactive trial in federal court to successfully challenge a comprehensive set of outdated laws restricting abortion access in a state. Recently, Jenny won the first ruling in the nation blocking the implementation of a state abortion ban after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. She also works extensively on improving access to medication abortion care and aligning its distribution with current medical and scientific evidence.

Jenny is a frequent commentator on reproductive rights issues, appearing in outlets such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, AP, Reuters, National Public Radio, the Hill, Politico, MSNBC, CBS, BBC, and others.

Jenny also has a longstanding commitment to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession, including serving on the Center’s nascent DEI Task Force, fostering equitable and transparent decision-making, and maintaining practices to support and empower internal and external voices and ideas.

Prior to joining the Center, Jenny served as a law clerk to the Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Honorable Robert W. Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She also worked at the law firms Jones Day and Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, where she co-authored an amicus brief in Obergefell v. Hodges. Jenny is a graduate of Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fisk Stone Scholar, a Ms. JD Fellow, and received the Louis Henkin Outstanding Note Award for her scholarship. She also holds an M.A. from Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and a B.A. with honors from Wesleyan University.

In addition to the lecture, the program will feature the announcement of the winners of the RWU Law RBG Essay/Art Contest for RI school children.

Make a Gift to the Women in Law Leadership Lecture Series at RWU Law

This event is made possible by the generosity of
Presenting Sponsors Cervenka Green & Ducharme, LLC, Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C., and Hinckley Allen

and individual support from First Women honoree Louise Durfee (1966) & Miriam Weizenbaum, Esq.

Special Accommodations
Persons who, because of a special need or condition, would like to request an accommodation for an event should contact the Office of the Dean - Programs & Initiatives, as soon as possible, but no later than 72 hours before the event, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. lawevents@rwu.edu