Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP announced today that Catharine Arrowood will serve as a member of the 2009 DirectWomen Board Institute, a program designed to identify and promote qualified women lawyers to serve on corporate boards of public companies. The Board Institute will be held October 28-30, 2009 in New York City.

DirectWomen is an initiative of the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section and Catalyst. It supports accomplished women lawyers for service on U.S. corporate boards, while also promoting the independence and diversity required for good corporate governance.

Catharine Arrowood litigates and arbitrates for both large and small businesses and has considerable experience with regulated companies. She currently chairs the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Advisory Committee and the International Committee of the American College of Trial Lawyers. She is also a member of the North Carolina Conference of Bar Presidents and the Board of Governors for the North Carolina Bar Association. Ms. Arrowood received her JD, cum laude, her BA, cum laude, from Wake Forest University.

The DirectWomen Board Institute will culminate on Friday, Oct. 30 with the Sandra Day O’Connor Board Excellence Award Luncheon, recognizing a distinguished group of women lawyers who have served as corporate directors and the companies on whose boards they have served.

The members of the 2009 DirectWomen Board Institute include:

• Catharine Biggs Arrowood—Partner at Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP, Raleigh, NC
• Rosemary T. Berkery—Consultant, Former Vice Chairman, Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Merrill Lynch & Co., New York, NY
• Connie R. Collingsworth—General Counsel, Secretary and Management Committee Member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA   
• Deborah A. Golden—Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of GATX Corporation, Chicago, IL
• Storrow Gordon—Retired Former General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Executive Vice President of Electronic Data Systems Corporation, Dallas, TX
• Peggy A. Heeg—Partner and Executive Committee Member at Fulbright & Jaworski LLP, Houston, TX
• Alyce C. Katayama—Senior Partner at Quarles & Brady LLP, Milwaukee, WI
• Mary Denise Kuprionis—Vice President, Secretary and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of The E.W. Scripps Company, Cincinnati, OH
• Judy K. Mencher—Principal of DDJ Capital Management LLC, Boston, MA
• Shelley B. Milano—Co-Founder of Zavida Gemstones, Vashon Island, WA
• Hilary Molay—Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Zale Corporation, Irving, TX
• Portia R. Moore—Partner at Lane Powell PC, Seattle, WA
• Lisa M. Palumbo—Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Parsons Brinkerhoff Inc., New York, NY
• Gloria Pinza—Managing Partner at Pierce Atwood LLP, Portland, ME
• Debra E. Pole—Partner and Executive Committee Member at Sidley Austin LLP, Los Angeles, CA
• Laraine Rothenberg—Partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, New York, NY
• Sari Ann Strasburg—Owner and Member at Strasburg Law PLLC, Bedford, NH
• Deborah S. Thoren-Peden—Partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Rolling Hills, CA
• Susan Tomasky—President—AEP Transmission, American Electric Power, Columbus, OH
• Rebecca J. Wing—General Counsel of Peregrine Financial Group, Inc., Chicago, IL
• Kathleen J. Wu—Partner at Andrews Kurth LLP, Dallas, TX

About Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP has 220 lawyers in six offices across the Carolinas. The Firm represents domestic and international clients in litigation and dispute, commercial, transactional and regulatory matters, including employment, environmental and government affairs.