Joan C. Williams, a law professor and prolific author on work and family issues, will be the keynote speaker at a “Celebration of Women in the Profession” luncheon hosted by the Illinois State Bar Association on Thursday, March 13, at the Union League Club, 65 W. Jackson, Chicago.

Described by the New York Times as “approaching rock star status” in her field, Professor Williams is the author or co-author of 99 academic articles/book chapters and eight books, including Unbending Gender: Why Family and work Conflict and What To Do About It (Oxford University Press, 2000), which won the 2000 Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award; and Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter (Harvard University Press, 2010). She received the American Bar Foundation’s Outstanding Scholar of the Year award in 2012 and the American Bar Association’s Margaret Brent Award for Women Lawyers of Achievement in 2006.

Professor Williams has taught at Harvard, University of Virginia, and American University law schools, and is the founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law.

“As a fitting celebration during Women's History Month, this event gives us the chance to commemorate the great strides which women in the profession have made in the last 140 years,” said Paula H. Holderman, ISBA president. “Our numbers have swelled from a handful of female lawyers to more than 330,000 today. We’ve come a long way and owe much to our predecessors who shaped the course of history.”

The luncheon begins with a reception at 11:15 a.m., followed by lunch at 12 noon and the formal program at 12:45 p.m.  For further information or to purchase tickets, visit http://www.isba.org/women14