Women's Bar Association of Illinois

The “Women with Vision” Awards were first presented in 1997 by the WBAI to honor and recognize women who have demonstrated visionary approaches in their professional endeavors and who have made a contribution to the well-being and empowerment of women.

The WBAI had the honor of awarding the 2011 “Women with Vision” Awards to Sharon Barner, Paula Hudson Holderman, and Andrea Kramer at its Annual Joint Professional Dinner.

Sharon Barner
Partner, Foley & Lardner, LLP

The Hon. Sharon R. Barner served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office (2009-2011) before rejoining Foley & Lardner LLP as a partner. She served as a leader in intellectual property (IP) policy, helped develop and articulate the Obama Administration positions on all patent, trademark and copyright issues, both domestic and foreign, and helped promote strategies to thwart the theft of U.S. IP around the world. She also helped develop and implement policies and initiatives to enhance the agency’s delivery of timely and high-quality patent and trademark examinations, and revamp and improve the patent appeals and reexamination system of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. Prior to assuming her position as Deputy Under Secretary in 2009, Ms. Barner had been chair of Foley’s Intellectual Property Department and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. She is chair of the China Practice and a member of the IP Litigation Practice.

As the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce she continued her international focus through leadership in 15 overseas delegations, including eight China missions to Beijing, Shanghai, Dongguan, Guilin, Nanjing, and other cities. Her extensive knowledge in China at Commerce built upon her earlier Foley experience where Ms. Barner played a leading role in the establishment of Foley’s East Asia presence through establishing its first Asian offices, first in Tokyo, Japan and then Shanghai, China.

Ms. Barner is a leading attorney in the field of intellectual property law. She represents clients in a broad range of technologies from genetically engineered corn seed, to computer software to satellites. She has tried numerous cases to verdict, as well as representing clients in IP strategic counseling and IP risk management.

Ms. Barner has been featured in The National Law Journal, where she was named one of "The 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America" (May 2008), Black Enterprise Magazine (November 2003), Diversity and the Bar (May/June 2003) and "Patent Plums: Who’s Enforcing the Most Important Patents" IP Law & Business (August 2001). She was selected for inclusion in the Illinois Super Lawyers® lists (2005-2009), and was named in the top 50 Women Illinois Super Lawyers (2006-2008). She was recently selected by her peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2010 in the field of intellectual property.

She is a member of the Board of Trustees of LaRabida Children’s Hospital, providing care to children with chronic illnesses, a member of the National Biotech and Pharmaceutical Association Executive Council, and a former board member of The Grateful Hand Foundation, offering a drug addiction treatment facility for women.

Ms. Barner received her law degree from the University of Michigan in 1982 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Syracuse University in 1979. She is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the Federal and American Bar Associations. Ms. Barner is admitted to practice in Ohio, Illinois, and before the Federal, Sixth and Seventh Circuits and is a charter master member of the Richard Linn American Inn.

Paula Hudson Holderman
Chief Attorney Development Officer, Winston & Strawn, LLP

Paula Hudson Holderman, Chief Development Officer for international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP, has global responsibility for the firm’s professional development and all facets of education and training of the firm’s 900 lawyers. Winston & Strawn is an AmLaw 100 firm with 14 offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Ms. Holderman is a nationally recognized authority in the professional development field with 32 years of experience as a lawyer, bar leader and legal educator.

Prior to her tenure at Winston & Strawn, Ms. Holderman was appointed Director of Hiring, Training and Minority Recruiting at the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office from 1998-2002. Serving on State’s Attorney Dick Devine’s executive staff, Ms. Holderman directed strategic hiring and recruiting efforts and developed key training functions for the 920 attorney office covering 6 judicial districts in Cook County.

In addition to her officer responsibilities at Winston, Ms. Holderman has established herself as a leader at state and national levels. After a vigorous state-wide campaign throughout Illinois in 2009-2010, she was elected into the pipeline to become president of the Illinois State Bar Association. Only the fourth woman president in its 137 year history, Ms. Holderman will lead the 35,000 member organization in 2013. She holds a seat in the policy-making ABA House of Delegates and is the co-chair of the 2012 ABA Annual Meeting.

During her legal career, Ms. Holderman has served on: Board of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations, Executive Committee; Liaison to the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession; Board of Directors of the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois; President, Board of Trustees, LAWPAC; President, Champaign County Bar Association 1987-88 (First woman); President, John Marshall Law School Alumni Association 1994-95; Recipient, JMLS Distinguished Alumni Award 1997.

Ms. Holderman is the James C. Woods Distinguished co-Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Illinois College of Law with her husband Chief Judge James F. Holderman. She has been on the adjunct faculty there since 1993. In addition, she has taught national and regional programs for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA) and trial advocacy at Chicago Kent College of Law; Emory University, and the John Marshall Law School, Chicago. In June 2010, Ms. Holderman traveled to Beijing, China where she taught a week-long course on using experts in intellectual property matters at Peking University.

She currently chairs the steering committee which created the ISBA Illinois Law & Leadership Institute which provided an intensive 3 week summer program for disadvantaged minority 8th grade graduates in critical thinking, law careers and leadership skills to promote future diversity in the law.

In 2009, the Illinois Supreme Court appointed Ms. Holderman as a Commissioner to the Commission on Character and Fitness. The Commission is responsible for determining eligibility of applicants for admission to the bar of Illinois. She previously served 8 years on the Illinois Supreme Court Rules Committee for Professional Responsibility as well as having chaired the Supreme Court’s advisory committee on MCLE in 2007.

Andrea Kramer
Partner, McDermott, Will & Emery, LLP

Andrea S. Kramer is a partner in the international law firm of McDermott Will & Emery LLP. She is head of its Financial Products, Trading and Derivatives Group and co chairs its Energy Services Group. She is a member of the Firm’s Management Committee, Diversity Committee, and chair of the Gender Diversity Subcommittee. Ms. Kramer previously served on the Firm’s Compensation Committee. Under her leadership, McDermott has developed policies and initiatives to ensure the value of a diverse firm and to hire, promote, and retain the most talented lawyers without regard to gender.

Ms. Kramer focuses her legal practice on the world of derivative financial products (their taxation, trading, management, regulation and documentation) as well as energy and commodity trading, contract negotiation, dispute resolution, and implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislative changes to the over-the-counter derivatives markets. Chambers USA has ranked Ms. Kramer as a Leading Lawyer for her “expert opinions on the taxation of financial products” and her expertise in “securities and financial instruments” and energy taxation. The Legal 500 has ranked Ms. Kramer as a Leading Lawyer who is “widely recognized as one of our nation’s most important voices in financial market tax policy” as “the best of class in a generation of lawyers,” and as “a brilliant tactician and a first-rate legal scholar” who is “detailed and thorough in her legal analysis and advice.” In 2007, Ms. Kramer was named one of the 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America by the National Law Journal for her “demonstrated power to change the legal landscape, shape public affairs, launch industries, and do big things.”

Ms. Kramer has committed herself to improving gender diversity in professional service firms. She is nationally recognized for her views on gender communication differences and the reasons why women need to learn to recognize these differences, address them, and work around them or use them to their advantage. To improve career development opportunities for women, Ms. Kramer co-founded the Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Alliance (WLMA) to bring professional women together to mentor and support leadership opportunities for professional women (www.wlmaconnect.org). Ms. Kramer is the Chair of the Board and a founding board member of WLMA, which works with professional women in Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles.

Ms. Kramer is active in charitable and community service activities. She is a founding board member and Chair Emeritus of The Women’s Treatment Center (TWTC), a Chicago-based residential and outpatient treatment facility for alcohol and substance abuse. TWTC remains one of the only facilities that accepts pregnant women and allows women in residence with young children. Ms. Kramer is Chair of the Board of the Chicago Foundation for Women, one of the largest women’s funds in the world, dedicated to the principle that all women and girls achieve their full potential under safe, just and healthy conditions.

In recognition of her outstanding community service, the Cook County Board of Commissioners awarded Ms. Kramer its Unsung Heroine Award. Ms. Kramer received the prestigious Women of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League for her professional accomplishments, her efforts on behalf of at-risk women and children, and her vigorous advocacy of equal opportunities for women in the workplace. TWTC presented Ms. Kramer with its first Founders Award for her involvement in founding TWTC, the acquisition of its facilities, and her years of support of TWTC’s mission. Ms. Kramer has been enrolled by McDermott in its “Partner Pro Bono Honor Roll” for her work on pro bono and community service initiatives.