DC Court of Appeals JudgeVanessa Ruiz, center, was recently honored as "Woman Lawyer of the Year." TheexpansiveNational Building Museum played host to more than500 legal folks celebrating, at the annual dinner by theWomen's Bar Association of DC and WBA Foundation, the theme for which this year was "Change Leadership." Judge Ruiz is flanked by WBAF presidentKirra Jarratt and WBA president-electJessica Adler.

JudgePat Wald, the first woman to sit on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, introduced Judge Ruiz. We snapped her at the dais with the keynote, NY District Attorney's Office GCCaitlin Halligan, and current WBA presidentLaura Possessky. Caitlin was NY SG and Weil Gotshal appellate chair before her current role. But she's also a former DC-ite, having graduated from Georgetown Law andclerked for Judge Wald and Justice Breyer.

Judge Wald, a pastWBA Woman Lawyer of the Year herself, said introducing Judge Ruiz is like reading a Dr. Suess book--all the places she's been, all the things she's done. That includes briefing and arguing (and winning) her first Supreme Court case just five years out of law school.The crowd enjoyed a dinner and dessert before remarks from Judge Wald, Caitlin, and Judge Ruiz. We snapped the Weil Gotshal table, including antitrust partner Laura Wilkinson and litigation partner and past WBA-DC president Holly Loiseau.

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