Bill Bay named co-chair of Joint Commission on Women in the Profession

Bill Bay will lead a statewide committee that will study the status of women attorneys in Missouri and detail new ways to promote gender equity in the legal profession.

The 16-member Joint Commission on Women in the Profession is a joint effort of the Missouri Supreme Court and the Missouri Bar. Bay will co-chair the committee with Megan Phillips, a law clerk for the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District. The group is comprised of judges, attorneys, and judicial professionals from around the state.

The commission’s work will include assessing the status of women in the profession, identifying barriers to advancement, combating bias and securing full and equal participation of women in the profession.

The commission may also conduct research on gender equity in the justice system and in the legal profession; promote best practices in the hiring, retention, and elevation of women lawyers; provide a forum for networking, mentoring, support, and collaboration among women lawyers; organize educational programs of interest to women lawyers; and comment on legal issues uniquely affecting women.

Bay is the immediate past chair of the 60,000-member ABA Section of Litigation. A former member of the Missouri Bar Board of Governors, he has held multiple leadership positions in local, state, and national bar organizations. For his longtime leadership and service, Missouri Lawyers Media honored Bay with an Influential Lawyer award at the 2013 Missouri Lawyers Awards, which recognize the top innovators and influencers in Missouri's legal community.