In 1987 the American Bar Association created The Commission on Women to assess the status of women in the legal profession and to identify barriers to advancement.  Two years later, in 1989, the N.C. Bar Association and the N.C. Association of Women Attorneys conducted a surveyed of 1,800 N.C. attorneys to develop a profile of the attitudes and perceptions of attorneys toward the role gender plays in the practice of law. From the results of that survey, the N.C. Bar Association established The Commission On The Status Of Women, co-chaired by Dorothy Bernholz and Sharon L. Parker, to study numerous issues faced by women attorneys.  
The Commission conducted a study and issued a report in 1993 outlining concerns which were identified during the Study and making recommendations to ensure greater equality and a more gender neutral legal society in N.C.  One of the Recommendations was that a permanent committee be established to assist women attorneys in the profession and to serve as a sounding board for the North Carolina Bar Association. The NCBA’s Board of Governors approved the Commission’s recommended position for the Bar in general and the NCBA specifically.  In 1992 the North Carolina Bar Association formed The Committee On Women In The Legal Profession with the charge of implementing the Study’s recommendations to insure fair treatment of women in the legal profession in North Carolina.  The Committee is further charged with studying issues and making recommendations to the bar and the North Carolina Bar Association relating to women in the legal profession in North Carolina.   The Committee seeks to secure the full and equal participation of women in the NCBA, the legal profession, and the justice system. 

 The Committee on Women in the Legal Profession was first co-chaired by Mark S. Thomas and Phillis Pickett.  The name of the Committee was changed in 1999 to the Task Force On Women In The Legal Profession – 21st Century and it is now called the Committee on Women In The Profession

 Some of the important projects undertaken by the Committee over the years include the following:

The Changing Face of Justice: A look at the First 100 Women Attorneys In North Carolina, Emily Colin and Lynn P. Roundtree, N.C. Bar Association 2004.

When we started the History Project in 1997, we wanted to identify and celebrate the accomplishments of the first practicing or licensed female attorneys in North Carolina.  Robin Bisha, a researcher, Sally Scherer, a Raleigh attorney, and other local attorneys spent hours sifting through the North Carolina Supreme Court Reporter looking for names of new licensees that appear to be female. Years later, with the help of researchers Emily Colin, Amanda Piedra, and Lynn Roundtree, we now have a comprehensive look at the professional lives of 100 women and the historical contact in which their plight to be recognized as attorneys took hold.  The book reflects the silent struggle, and the previously unrecognized accomplishments, of North Carolina’s first 100 women attorneys.  Whether they knew it or not, these women were at the forefront of a women’s movement.  Their cumulative movement forward created the climate that we enjoy as attorneys today.  Through the History Project the Committee was able to share with the Bar Association community the extraordinary contributions of each individual woman and the enormity of the impact of these women on our profession and our society.

Dinner
“Celebration Honoring the First One Hundred Women Attorneys in North Carolina.”
The Committee on Women in the Profession unveiled its new history book, “The Changing Face of Justice: A Look at the First 100 Women Attorneys in North Carolina,” during the evening event.  The featured speaker for the event was Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund and a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans.  Marian Wright Edelman provided a stirring address and Hazel Siler Mull Cole, 97, added an unforgettable personal touch as the only one of the surviving first 100 North Carolina women attorneys in attendance.

Symposium
“Women Lawyers in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities.”
The full day symposium began with jury consultant Charlotte “Charli” Morris who examined the differences in the ways that men and women communicate - and how they are perceived by others. The presentation was titled “Setting the Stage: The Effects of Gender on Communication.”
“Law Practice in the 21st Century: Challenges, Risks and Opportunities” followed, featuring Dr. Ellen Ostrow of LawyersLife Coach, LLC and Metropolitan Behavior Health Care in Washington, D.C.
Following lunch, the afternoon program began with “The Changing Face of Leadership in the Legal Profession.” Panelists for this program included Judge Allyson K. Duncan of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, president of the NCBA; Mary Musacchia, a member of the NCBA Board of Governors who directs the Global Governmental Affairs Division of SAS and serves as counsel to the president/CEO; and Ann Reed, senior deputy N.C. attorney general who was the first woman to serve as president of the State Bar.
The concluding program, “Recruiting and Retaining Women - It’s Good For You and the Profession,” featured Beth Rader of Cincinnati (principal, Deloitte & Touche), Mary Nash Rusher of Raleigh (partner, Hunton & Williams) and William P. Farthing Jr. of Charlotte (partner, Parker, Poe, Adams & Bernstein).

June, 2004 NCBA Annual Meeting, Committee on Women in the Profession Sponsored Lunch,
“What Law School Should Be Doing To Assist Students, Particularly Women Students, In Transitioning To Professional Life.”  Dean Gail Agrawal, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, UNC Law School,
June 2003, NCBA Annual Meeting, Committee on Women in the Profession Sponsored Lunch,
Conversations with Professor Leslie Griffin, holder of the Larry and Joanne Doherty Chair in Legal Ethics at the University of Houston School of Law, after her Professionalism lecture to the Association meeting entitled “Who Blew The Whistle?”

June 2002, NCBA Annual Meeting, Committee on Women In the Legal Profession Sponsored Lunch,
Lauren Rikleen, former President of the Boston Bar Association.