Rutgers Law Associate Professor Ann Freedman, who teaches family violence and the law and children and the law, has for many years contributed to the law school’s clinical programs, including the Domestic Violence Clinic and the Pro Bono Domestic Violence Program.
For the past three decades, Freedman has overseen the Mary Philbrook Award Ceremony, a prominent public interest event, inaugurated in 1986 and named for the first woman attorney in New Jersey that honors attorneys, judges and other social activists, as well as Rutgers students, for their contributions to equal justice.
In this Q&A, Freedman discusses how the signature law school event came to be, how it’s evolved, and why she’s remained so passionate about upholding the tradition.
What do you remember most about the first event? How has the event evolved over the decades?
I remember how exciting it was to finally come together for the reception and dinner, a September Friday night in the campus center, because, along with students and alums from the Women’s Law Caucus and other faculty, we’d been planning the first celebration for months.
In fact, we’d started 18 months before the Philbrook itself to hold a series of well-attended films and discussions of stories and plays, with the goal of exchanging ideas and building community in the law school, to capitalize on the diversity among the student body and faculty, and make the law school a livelier place.
We chose to hold the first Philbrook – and the next 29 as well – in the fall, so we could kick off the law school year with a celebration of good work and a call to renew our commitments and connections. We had over 150 people, and our first honoree, Judge Betty Lester from Newark, who had had a very distinguished career, gave a great speech. I remember promising her that we would put her name on a Philbrook plaque that would hang in the law school, so she’d be part of a proud tradition. And now, we have a picture of Mary Philbrook herself that hangs beside the plaque, a gift of retired New Jersey Supreme Court Justice Marie Garibaldi, who was the first woman to serve on that court, and a Philbrook honoree in 1997.
The theme of diversity was reflected in our first invitation letter, which was signed by the student dinner chair, plus the Presidents of the Asian Law Students Association, Alianza, BLSU and the Women’s Law Caucus, along with alum and then-law teacher Linda Wharton (later herself a Philbrook honoree), and three faculty members. The tradition of co-sponsorship by a variety of student organizations expanded, a tradition that has been carried forward by the array of student groups who nominate students for public interest awards, buy tables at the event, and put ads in the program book to support the event.
The Philbrook changed over the years both because it became an established tradition and because the law school changed. By 1999, when Philbrook honoree and alum Lou Rulli and I came up with the idea of the student public interest awards, the law school had a growing pro bono and public interest program as well as several live client clinics, none of which existed in 1986. So we had excellent student work to recognize, and another way to provide each new generation of students with a reason to come celebrate. Another key message is that work for social justice is both compatible with professional success, and an expression of the highest values of the law school and legal community.
The addition of the Association for Public Interest Law as a co-sponsor has made a huge difference, because the student work in putting on the event – which is considerable – is more widely shared. Having the support of the Alumni Association and the Camden County Bar Association gives us a financial base for the event, and helps convey our message that work for social justice and equality is a key value among members of the bench and bar. The Alumni board members have been very actively involved over the years, helping nominate and select award recipients and the student public interest honorees.
The event is much bigger and more professional now, as more law school, university and legal community resources have been made available. The Philbrook has become one of several community defining social justice events – joined in the law school calendar by the BLSA’s Martin Luther King, Jr. dinner in January, and the Alianza Campeones de la Justicia banquet and APIL auction in the spring, as well as APALSA’s Lunar Banquet and many other community building activities like Alternative Spring Break, the APIL Run for Justice, the Marshall-Brennan program, the law journals, our moot court programs and competitive trial and advocacy teams.
Why do you think the Mary Philbrook Award Celebration means so much to so many?
I’d say it is an inspirational combination of storytelling, socializing and community. The Philbrook tradition is one of delightful gatherings – people come back to see friends and make new connections, enjoy good food, and celebrate the amazing social justice work of the members of the bench and bar and students we honor. Each year, we build the event anew, combining the particular area of social justice work the honoree represents and the increasingly remarkable achievements of the student honorees. The honoree is asked to speak about her or his career path as well as about his or her work – which makes for great and memorable storytelling and opportunities to understand more deeply what is involved in doing good work over many years. And each time, we are reminded of the role of community in enabling people to sustain their work over time, and the many different kinds of contributions that make a difference. Then, too, people who’ve been involved in the Philbrook in the past want to meet the new members of our Philbrook and public interest tribe.
Talk about the role of the Women’s Law Caucus in the Philbrook event and why that collaboration has been integral?
The Women’s Law Caucus lead role has been critical to keeping the Philbrook going through many years of hard work, and has also helped support the organization and its members to integrate social change issues along with professional development. The Philbrook has enabled Law Caucus members across the years to create stronger bonds with each other than would probably be possible without the infusion of energy involved in putting on the event and meeting and learning from the remarkable women and men we have honored.
The Women’s Law Caucus Networking dinner was also the predecessor event to the Philbrook. As when I was a law student many years before, the women law students of the 1980s were eager to meet women practicing law and serving as judges, and not only the men who still predominated in such roles. WLC members and alums were often motivated as well by concerns with social justice and equality, yet weren’t sure how that would go over in the job market, nor how to navigate their own careers in a way that would lead to professional success as well as opportunities to give back. At that time, the challenges of balancing career and family seemed to be more immediately compelling to the women in the law school than to the men. Because of its social justice focus and its celebratory approach, the Philbrook was attractive both to members of the bench and bar, to the faculty and to law students -- of both genders. As the tradition continued, networking and mentoring both grew out of the event, as well as the immediate expansion of people’s horizons by meeting people who had gone before in confronting all of the challenges that concerned the students.
The spirit of Mary Philbrook – who has actually been quite an inspiring figure to all of us involved in the event over the years – and the feminist and womanist spirit of the Law Caucus itself have synergistically contributed to critical thinking about legal and social institutions, a concern to ensure that diverse voices are heard, and a sense of the intersection between community activism and empowerment, movements for change and the possibility of a more humane society.
Talk about what motivates you to oversee so much of this annual event for three decades.
I am passionate about lifelong learning, the ways communities – including our law school - are strengthened by including all their members in common endeavors, and the importance of having fun and celebrating together. The Philbrook lets me connect with people in the public interest community and learn from them. Plus I love seeing my students each year, and renewing my own commitments in the presence of our inspiring honorees. For thirty years, I’ve always given the closing remarks, so I can see everyone’s faces and speak about the need for community for the important work we need to do to make our society more inclusive and more just.
Why should all members of the Rutgers Law community support this event?
The Philbrook strengthens the law school community because it brings good work to our attention and inspires more good work in turn, and because it helps identify our law school with our deepest values. At bottom, the Philbrook – like many great traditions -- is about the joy and satisfaction of coming together in community to give and receive. The celebration is a great way to kick off the school year, renew our commitments to make the world a better place, and have a delightful evening in good company.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, the 30th annual Mary Philbrook event will honor Marsha H. Neifield, the first woman president judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court, who has implemented numerous collaborative efforts to address unmet community needs and advance social justice, and has reformed court procedures to better promote fairness and efficiency.
The event also will celebrate Rutgers Law Professor Sally Goldfarb, who played a key role in the creation of the Violence Against Women Act and was recently selected by the American Bar Association as a recipient of its 20/20 Vision Award and invited to the White House for an October summit on civil rights and equal protection for women.
The law school’s Domestic Violence Program, directed by Professors Victoria Chase, Anne Mallgrave, and Ruth Anne Robbins, which has served thousands of people affected by domestic violence, through direct representation, legal information and guidance to the legislature, also will be recognized on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.
Proceeds from the gala benefit support public interest lawyering at Rutgers Law School.
Tickets are $35, which includes a catered reception. To register, visit camlaw.rutgers.edu/philbrook.
The event will be held in the Campus Center, located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers University–Camden campus.