Alumni Spotlight: Peggy Steif Abram
Name: Peggy Steif Abram
Title: Retired Partner
Firm Background: Corporate, June 9, 1986 – December 31, 2019, Minneapolis
How have you been spending your time since retiring from the firm?
The pandemic began right after I retired, which delayed some of my retirement plans. We love to travel and, once travel was possible again, we’ve been river rafting and hiking in the West and I’ve visited France, the Czech Republic and Austria. We also spent a month in Australia earlier this year.
I started volunteering at a St. Paul charter school at which the students are predominantly lower income. It has been meaningful to participate in the community in this way and, hopefully, make a difference for both teachers and students. I enjoy engaging with the students and think they appreciate the steadiness of the same face showing up in the classroom.
I now serve on a Carleton College alumni board. I also have become a better cook through a cookbook club with friends — we each pick a dish from a new cookbook and gather regularly for good meals and good conversation.
My largest volunteer commitment is my leadership involvement in the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). NAWL is the oldest women’s bar association in the nation and will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2024. After serving on the Board, and in various executive officer roles, I became the President last month.
When did you first become involved in NAWL?
I attended my first NAWL meeting in 2005 while visiting family in Los Angeles. I had returned to work full-time at the start of that year and wanted to network more nationally. I enjoyed the people I met and NAWL was a great way to expand my network. I served on many different committees and spoke on panels and then was asked to join the Board.
What are your goals as President of NAWL?
I want to continue to advance NAWL’s two-fold mission, to advance women in the legal profession and to advocate for equal rights for women under the law.
In the 40 years since I started law school, there have been significant advances for women in the profession. At Faegre Drinker, women are now 33% of the partners, 50% of the management board, and the firm is for the first time chaired by a woman, the indomitable Gina Kastel. But, NAWL’s research shows that law firms’ decisions on compensation, performance evaluation, promotions and succession remain biased.
As to NAWL’s broader advocacy, we see an injustice against one as an affront to all. We are committed to actively support and advocate for reproductive freedom, without which women are not equal under the law, for racial equity and justice, amplifying voices that have been unrepresented due to prejudice, for equal economic opportunity and voting rights, the barriers to which disproportionately impact women and people of color, and for the ERA, guaranteeing equal rights to all citizens regardless of sex and gender status.
As I stated in my first speech as President in July, the work is not done. There is urgent need for renewed and concerted action in this critical moment in American history in which the rights of women are at serious risk.
What made you decide to become an attorney?
I was in a PhD program at The University of Chicago and realized that a career in academia, with many hours devoted to research (in library basements), would be too isolating for me. I wanted to have more impact in my community and decided to go to law school.
What is your fondest memory/best experience/what do you miss about the firm?
I practiced at the firm for 34 years and enjoyed practicing law and giving back to the community. I became a board member of the Advocates for Human Rights in my 2nd year of practice and served on many different boards during my career, as well as serving as the Chair of the firm’s foundation. I am especially grateful that the firm provided opportunities and support for my commitment to community service.
I had wonderful mentors like Gerry Flom, Phil Garon and Kris Sharpe. They each helped me become a better lawyer and their friendship and that of many others enriched my career. In later years, I had a unique job as the general counsel for firm client Hutchinson Technology and had an extraordinary relationship with many members of their executive team.
What are you reading right now?
I just finished Lessons in Chemistry, a fun summer read, and now am reading Elif Batuman’s novel, The Idiot. Next on my list is Dahlia Lithwick’s new book, Lady Justice, Women, The Law, and the Battle to Save America (Lithwick was the plenary speaker at NAWL’s meeting in July!).
In addition to the NAWL Presidency, what’s next for you personally or professionally?
One of our daughters is getting married at the end of September and we are looking forward to the celebration. Later this year, my husband Jon and I will be traveling to Kenya and Tanzania on a Carleton alumni trip. I am also thinking about brushing up my French with an Alliance Francaise course — maybe an immersion language course (and some cooking classes) somewhere in France next year?
I am fortunate to have found many interesting things to do with my time.
