Melanie Damian was selected to receive the Miami Dade Florida Association of Women Lawyers’ (FAWL) Mattie Belle Davis Award. The award is presented to a FAWL member who exemplifies the ideals of professional achievement, perseverance and dedication that were demonstrated by the late Judge Davis
Mattie Belle Davis (1910-2004) was admitted to the Florida bar in 1939 – a time when women could not sit on juries in Florida. Judge Davis was the first woman Judge of Metropolitan Court of Dade County, Florida and served from 1959-1965. She was instrumental in forming the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and she was the association’s 1957- 58 President. The Florida Association of Women Lawyers Society established the Mattie Belle Davis award in 2004 in her honor to recognize outstanding women lawyers and their contributions to the legal profession.
Melanie Emmons Damian will be presented with The Mattie Belle Davis award on June 15, 2012 at the 32nd Annual Installation and Awards Luncheon, to be held at the Intercontinental Hotel Chopin Plaza in Downtown Miami, Florida from 11:30 am to 2:00pm.