IndyBar: Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt Named Recipient of 2013 Antoinette Dakin Leach Award

  • Print

The Hon. Tanya Walton Pratt, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, will be recognized as the 2013 Antoinette Dakin Leach Award recipient at the Antoinette Dakin Leach Award Celebration Luncheon on October 25. The luncheon is being held in conjunction with the Women & the Law Division’s Women, Law & Leadership Symposium, which will be held Thursday, October 24 through Friday, October 25.

The award, named after one of the first women admitted to the Indiana bar, is fitting for Judge Pratt, who has already achieved a number of “firsts” thus far in her career: She is both the first African American to be appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and the first African-American federal judge in the State of Indiana.

From 2008 until her appointment to the bench of the District Court in 2010, Judge Pratt served as a judge in the Marion Superior Court, Probate Division. She was elected Marion County Superior Court judge in November 1996, and she served as presiding judge of the Superior Court, Criminal Division, from 1997 to 2008. She also served as master commissioner for the Marion County Superior Court from 1993 to 1996. Prior to her election as a Marion Superior Court judge, she was active in private practice as a partner with the law firm of Walton & Pratt, focusing primarily on family law, bankruptcy, and probate law. She also served as a contract county public defender during her years of private practice.

The Indianapolis Bar’s Women and the Law Division established the Antoinette Dakin Leach award in 1990 to honor outstanding women in the legal profession. The award is presented only when the division deems a worthy candidate exists.

To register for the luncheon and/or other events held during the Women, Law & Leadership Symposium, visit indybar.org.•

Please enable JavaScript to view this content.

{{ articles_remaining }}
Free {{ article_text }} Remaining
{{ articles_remaining }}
Free {{ article_text }} Remaining Article limit resets on
{{ count_down }}