Presented by the Women in the Law Section and
Young Lawyers Section Women in the Law Committee
Pathways to Leadership for Women Lawyers is an annual dinner and award ceremony hosted by the Women in the Law Section and Young Lawyers Section Women in the Law Committee where the Ladder Award is presented to a distinguished woman attorney each year.
The Ladder Award was created by the YLS Women in the Law Committee in 2007 to honor a woman attorney who has “left the ladder down” for those women who follow in her footsteps. The award is aimed at recognizing the efforts of women in the profession who have recognized the importance of mentoring and supporting more junior lawyers in their own journeys to success in the profession.
We invite you to join us for this year’s event, where we will honor Tanyee “Tan” Cheung with the 2023 Ladder Award.
Cost
$80 CBA Member
$90 Non-Member
Become a Sponsor for this Event
2023 Ladder Award Recipient
Tanyee "Tan" Cheung
Finn Dixon & Herling LLP
Tanyee “Tan” Cheung is a champion of well-being, who looks to introduce and share her learnings and experiences in the well-being arena with as many people as possible. Attorney Cheung is co-chair of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Lawyer Well-Being Committee and chair of the Wellness Committee at Finn Dixon & Herling LLP (“Finn Dixon”), the law firm where she practices. She is also the Connecticut representative for the Institute of Well-Being in Law State Task Force and a member of the Mindfulness in Law Society. Attorney Cheung has presented on well-being and mindfulness to the Connecticut Bar Association, law firms, law students, and local high school students.
After graduating from law school, Attorney Cheung clerked in the Southern District of New York for Hon. Mary Johnson Lowe. Attorney Cheung worked for Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker LLP (New York City and Stamford) and Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (New York City) prior to moving in-house, where she served as senior counsel for General Electric Capital Corporation. She is currently a partner in the debt finance group at Finn Dixon.
Attorney Cheung is the first woman and minority to have been elected to serve on Finn Dixon’s Management Committee and to be appointed chair of their Debt Finance Group. In addition, she actively participates on Finn Dixon’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) Committee and Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is an officer and a board member of the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association (CAPABA).
Attorney Cheung received her master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in business administration (finance) from Baruch College and is currently in the process of obtaining her coaching certification.
Attorney Cheung homeschooled her two children (before the pandemic!). Both of her boys later participated in the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. Aidan, her oldest, currently attends the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Brandon is a budding writer who is attending Stony Brook University (and is excited to transfer to The University of Sydney in the summer). Both boys are fans of positive psychology (“Mom is much more chill now”) and remind their mom to practice what she preaches whenever she slips and forgets.
After visiting Costa Rica on a whim, Attorney Cheung purchased land and designed and built a home overlooking the ocean in Playa Coco, Guanacaste. She (having prior to 2021 never been on a hike before) hiked Mount Ida (12,800 ft elevation) in the Rocky Mountains through hail and freezing rain and finished her first Spartan Race in 2022 at the age of 54. She is currently authoring a series of children’s books based on the VIA Institute on Character’s 24-character strengths and is writing a book on demystifying the law of attraction and revealing the hidden positive psychology tools and concepts that the law of attraction utilizes.
Attorney Cheung is incredibly passionate about well-being and loves to hear from others so she can expand her perspective and share even more. Please reach out to her with any thoughts, questions, or feedback or to just say “hi” at tcheung@fdh.com.
Keynote Speaker
The Honorable Nina F. Elgo
Connecticut Appellate Court
Judge Nina F. Elgo is the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Appellate Court and was the first Asian Pacific American judge appointed to the Connecticut Superior Court.
Governor Dannel P. Malloy nominated Judge Elgo to be a judge of the Appellate Court and the General Assembly confirmed her appointment on May 25, 2017.
Prior to her appointment to the Appellate Court, Judge Elgo served as a Superior Court judge since May 5, 2004. In this role, she heard civil matters in the Hartford Judicial District and also served as presiding judge for the Child Protection Session in the Middlesex Judicial District. Additionally, she presided over criminal, juvenile, and habeas corpus cases in the Hartford, Tolland, and New Haven judicial districts.
Judge Elgo has served on various committees designed to improve the court system. Since 2012, she has served as a member of the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee and previously served on the Rules Committee of the Superior Court. She is a James W. Cooper Life Fellow and serves on the Education and Program Committee of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. For many years, Judge Elgo served on the Committee for Judicial Education and has been a frequent faculty member/facilitator of the Connecticut Judges’ Institute. Additionally, in 2013, Governor Malloy appointed her to represent the Judicial Branch as a member of the Connecticut team selected to participate in the Three Branch Institute on Child Social and Emotional Well-Being Initiative sponsored by the National Governors Association.
Judge Elgo is the recipient of various awards and recognitions. In 2015, Judge Elgo was honored with the Native Daughter of Norwich Award; in 2014, she was the recipient of the CT Asian Pacific American Bar Association Impact Award; and in 2013, Judge Elgo was the recipient of the Edwin Archer Randolph Diversity Award. As the first Asian Pacific American judge in Connecticut, Judge Elgo was honored in 2006 by the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association Women’s Caucus as a “Trailblazer in the Connecticut Judiciary.” She was also a recipient of the 2007 Connecticut Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section Diversity Award.
Judge Elgo is also a member of the Swift’s Inn, a Bencher Emeritus member of the Oliver Ellsworth Inn of Court, and was active for several years with the Connecticut-Pskov Russian American Rule of Law Consortium.
Judge Elgo is a first generation Filipino-American, born in Groton, CT and raised in Norwich, CT. She received her BA from Connecticut College in 1984 and her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center in 1990.
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