Atlanta, May 10, 2024 – Justice Shawn Ellen LaGrua is this year’s recipient of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers’ Kathleen Kessler Award.
The Kathleen Kessler Award is GAWL’s most important award, which is given annually to a female attorney who exhibits the highest degree of professionalism and dedication to service in the legal community. The award is named in honor of attorney Kathleen Kessler, a pioneering trial attorney and mentor, who was killed in the 1996 ValuJet Flight 592 crash.
“Justice LaGrua is a selfless trailblazer and long-term supporter of women lawyers in Georgia,” GAWL stated in its announcement of the award, noting her participation as a panelist in GAWL’s January 2022 Path to Empowerment for Women on the Run event and her efforts enabling a group of Georgia attorneys to obtain admission to the U.S. Supreme Court in November 2023. “Her professional acumen paired with her willingness to mentor and motivate female lawyers has led to significant progress in the political empowerment of women across our great state and nation.”
Justice LaGrua was appointed to the Supreme Court by Gov. Brian Kemp in December 2020 and was re-elected for a six-year term in May 2022. Previously, she served a decade on the Superior Court of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit. While serving on the bench in Fulton County, Justice LaGrua initiated and presided over “My Journey Matters,” a pilot probation program designed to divert young offenders from a lifetime of incarceration. She also presided over the circuit’s first Re-Entry Court, which worked to integrate prior offenders back into the community. Before becoming a judge, Justice LaGrua served as Inspector General for the Georgia Secretary of State and as the Solicitor General for DeKalb County.
Past recipients of the Kathleen Kessler Award include former Supreme Court of Georgia Chief Justices Leah Ward Sears and Carol Hunstein and Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley.
