The Board of Governors of the Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) named Joanne W. Young of Washington, DC, the 2020 Republican Lawyer of the Year. Mrs. Young was selected in recognition of her outstanding professional accomplishments and years of tireless dedication in service to the Republican Party. She will be honored at a reception in Washington, DC, on Thursday, September 17, 2020.
RNLA Chair Manuel Iglesias said of this year’s honoree:
“Joanne has been a pioneer in breaking the glass ceiling and achieving professional success as a woman in the legal profession. She has selflessly promoted women to positions of eminence in both the legal and professional world. Within the RNLA she has been part of the leadership for the past 25 years. I cannot think of anyone more deserving to receive the RNLA’s most distinguished award.”
RNLA Co-Chair Harmeet Dhillon agreed:
“Joanne Young is truly an inspiration to other Republican lawyers, including me. From her tireless commitment to the rule of law and nonprofit endeavors in support of election integrity, to her tireless advocacy on behalf of Republican lawyers within the conservative movement, to her formation of her own firm in a profession where this still remains a rarity for women, Joanne has been a trailblazer in so many regards. I look up to her as a colleague and a friend, and I’m so delighted that she was recognized this year with this well-deserved accolade from her peers.”
Joanne W. Young, Managing Partner of the Washington DC based law firm, Kirstein & Young PLLC, is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and Wesleyan University. She represents clients on commercial, regulatory, antitrust, election law, and litigation matters, and has special expertise in the aviation industry. She spent several decades as a partner in large international law firms, including the New York firm Lord Day Lord, Barrett Smith, before co-founding her present firm in 2006. She has taken leadership positions on such issues as privacy, antitrust/competition, and election integrity matters.
Ms. Young serves on the U.S. Export-Import Bank Advisory Committee and on the Board of the Lawyer’s Democracy Fund (LDF). She was previously elected President of the Women’s Bar Association (WBA), the International Aviation Womens Association (IAWA), the Washington Foreign Law Society (WFLS) and the International Aviation Club (IAC). She founded Executive Women in Aviation and served on the Board of Trustees of Wesleyan University and the Board of the Women’s Bar Foundation, the ABA Air & Space Law Forum and the DC Bar Law Practice Steering Committee.
Ms. Young was named the 2013 Attorney of the Year by the Boy Scouts of America National Capital Area Council and as a Star of the Bar in 2015 by the Women’s Bar Association. She serves on the Board of the City Club of Washington, as a DC Co-Chair for Vital Voices and on the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Industry Advisory Board for the College of Business. She served on the 2019 DOT Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking, Subcommittee on Training and Awareness.
Ms. Young is a Member of the New York State and District of Columbia Bars.
She was elected to the DC Delegation to the Republican National Convention in 2012, 2016 and 2020 and has served on the DC Republican Party’s Executive Committee since 2015, including as Co-Chair of their Platform Committee.
Ms. Young currently serves as Vice-Chair of the RNLA and a member of our Board of Governors. The RNLA is pleased to honor Joanne Young with this prestigious award.
The Republican Lawyer of the Year Award has been presented annually since 2004. Previous awardees include Lee Goodman (2019), Harmeet Dhillon (2018), Larry Levy (2017), John Ryder (2016), Bobby R. Burchfield (2015), and E. Mark Braden (2014).
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