Professor Linda Elrod Honored with McFarland Award

Professor Linda Henry Elrod, ’72, was honored by the Women Attorneys Association of Topeka (WAAT) with the Justice Kay McFarland Award during their Just Desserts event held at the Governor’s Row House on June 9, 2016. The Award recognizes an individual who has achieved professional excellence in her field, has influenced other women to pursue legal careers, opened doors for women lawyers in a variety of job settings that historically were closed to them, or advanced opportunities for women within a practice area or segment of the profession.

“I am honored and humbled to receive the Chief Justice Kay McFarland Attorney of Achievement Award,” said Elrod. “Teaching law students is a privilege, a challenge and a joy. To receive an award named for a friend whom I respected makes it even more special.”

Since graduating Washburn Law in 1972, Elrod has become a prominent expert in the area of children and family law. She has many firsts attributed to her name: founder and first chair of the Family Law Section of the Kansas Bar Association, first woman president of the Topeka Bar Association in 1986-87, and original author of the Kansas Family Law Handbook in 1983.

The late Chief Justice Kay E. McFarland, ’64, was the first woman elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County in 1971, the first female district judge in Kansas in 1973, the first woman justice on the Kansas Supreme Court in 1977, and the first female chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in 1995.

A complete listing of Elrod’s accolades and scholarly activities can be found at: http://www.washburnlaw.edu/profiles/faculty/activity/elrod-linda.html.