Marilou Watson, Esq., Receives the Margaret Richardson Award

Marilou Watson, Esq., Receives the Margaret Richardson Award

The MBA Women in the Law Committee proudly presented Marilou Watson, Esq., with the Margaret Richardson Award during a reception on November

9, 2021.

The Margaret Richardson Award is presented in honor of the first female Montgomery Bar Association Member and is awarded to worthy member who has promoted women in the legal profession. Marilou Watson, Esquire, is the recipient of the 2021 Margaret Richardson Award.

Marilou has worked for many years, in ways both large and small, formal and informal, to advance women in the legal profession. Often, that means mentoring young women attorneys at her law firm, Fox Rothschild LLP, or aspiring women law students referred to her by friends and colleagues. At other times, it means engaging with local and national organizations to create programs designed to improve women’s standing within the profession.

Through her work in 2014 with the American Bar Association’s Women of Color Research Initiative, a project undertaken by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, Marilou helped create the Women of Color Program Toolkit. This practical guide and collection of resources assists law firms and corporations, state and local bar associations, and minority and specialty bar associations in presenting programs to improve the recruitment, hiring, retention and promotion of women attorneys of color. Marilou participated in the rollout of the toolkit and spoke as part of the ABA’s program “From Visible Invisibility to Visibly Successful: Women of Color Research and Strategies for the Workplace.”

While serving as a member of the Montgomery Bar Association Diversity Committee, Marilou created the “Day in Court” program at the Montgomery County Courthouse. The program, which continues to this day, received a County Bar Recognition Award in 2013 from the Pennsylvania Bar Association for its impact on the future of the legal profession. It provides high school students, particularly young girls, the opportunity to observe a live court proceeding and meet with several county judges, a public defender, a prosecutor, a county detective and County Commissioners.

This is just a fraction of the programs and organizations to which Marilou volunteers her time and through which she serves her community.

Congratulations to Marilou on the well-deserved award!