SBWL Honors Attorney of the Year Janet Vining Mitchell

by Cristi Michelon, Affiliate Governor

SBWL President and CWL member Rebecca Eggeman, CWL President Pearl Gondrella Mann, SBWL Affiliate Governor Cristi Michelon, CWL Dist. 6 Governor Janet Vining Mitchell, CWL Life Member Louise LaMothe.

CWL Affiliate Santa Barbara Women Lawyers celebrated its year in review at their Annual Dinner and honored its Attorney of the Year, CWL Board Member and Newsletter editor Janet Vining Mitchell. Janet was presented with the Deborah Talmage Attorney of the Year award in honor of her inspiring and dedicated commitment to advancing women's issues both inside and outside the profession. CWL and SBWL member the Hon. James Herman and CWL President Pearl Gondrella Mann spoke at the dinner and California State Assembly member Pedro Nava also attended.

Janet has been involved in SBWL since its inception in the late 1980's and has served for many years on its Board of Directors. Currently, Janet is the Secretary of SBWL and President of the SBWL Foundation. Janet has also held roles as President and Vice President of the organization.

Those of us that have had the privilege of working along side Janet on the Board have come to appreciate her consistently centered presence, extraordinary work ethic, commitment to the organization and its mission, and find that her observations and clear thinking add value to each discussion.

In addition to Janet's commitment to SBWL, she has also been extensively involved with CWL, serving as District 6 Governor, Affiliate Governor, Membership and Affiliates- Bylaws Committee Chairs, and as a member of the Executive and Amicus Committees.

Janet's quiet strength in overcoming challenges is awe-inspiring. Janet credits SBWL and CWL in helping her conquer the difficult periods in her life. After suffering injuries from a violent mugging in 1998 and then being diagnosed with cancer, Janet didn't sit back and let life pass her by, she became the president of SBWL that same year. Janet has said: "My work with SBWL and CWL has been personally gratifying for me, and has kept me going in a sense, with the challenges I've faced. The organizations have been good to me." Janet adds that she appreciates how her friends from SBWL gave her reasons to stay involved rather than withdraw, which she says could have been easy to do under the circumstances.

The 2004 Attorney of the Year, and current President of the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, Ann Gormican Anderson, presented the award to Janet. Ann described Janet's many achievements and her ability to overcome adversity with grace and dignity as an inspiration for any attorney, male or female.

The Dinner concluded with the swearing in of SBWL's 2006 Board of Directors: Jana Beck, Lora Brown, Nicole Champion, Michael Colton, Rebecca Eggeman, Renee Fairbanks, Betty Jeppesen, Donna Lewis, Cristi Michelon, Daalia Refaat Reynolds, Gamble Parks Kvancz, Denise Platt, and Janet Vining Mitchell.