Parsons Boise Office Administrator Awarded Lifetime Service Award by the Federal Bar Association
Today, the Idaho Chapter of the Federal Bar Association (FBA) conferred Boise local Susie Headlee with the FBA’s Lifetime Service Award at its 2021 District of Idaho Virtual Bench/Bar Conference. Headlee is the first recipient of the award, which is given to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions of time, effort, talent and dedication to furthering the FBA’s mission of serving and supporting the federal judiciary and Bar.
Alyson Foster, president of the Idaho Chapter of the FBA says, “Since the chapter's founding in 2004, Susie has served as its volunteer executive director. Her more than 30 years of service to the federal judiciary and the FBA have been remarkable. It is well known in our community that if you need help, you call Susie. And if Susie asks you to do something, you do it.”
As the volunteer executive director for the Idaho Chapter of the FBA – a role she accepted from her then-boss Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill who founded the chapter – Headlee has been instrumental in growing the chapter from seven original members to well over 100. Foster says, “Susie devoted countless hours to developing our chapter to support our judges and our practitioners. She created and managed numerous programs of service, education, and continuous support to our federal court. As with everything she does, she made everyone around her look good and avoided taking credit for her good works.”
Headlee says the chapter has maintained a true stability while continually growing and looking for new opportunities, which, she says, should be expected from a successful organization. The chapter has partnered with the University of Idaho to create a student chapter and provides mentoring services to students.
Headlee takes pride in the fact that the chapter has always valued diversity and inclusion and has sought out female leadership, with as many female presidents over the years as male. She says, “It’s not hard to be enthusiastic about an organization when it is quality and run correctly.” Headlee says that while it’s very nice to be appreciated and recognized, she never did the job to be in the spotlight. She says, “I like being in control of things because I like things to work. I like being the air traffic controller to ensure the planes run on time, but I never wanted to be the pilot.”
Foster says Headlee instinctively rises to serve when there is a need. Among her other volunteer work, Headlee assists with training immigrant justice lawyers; collecting toys for the Boise firefighters’ annual toy brigade; helping attorneys who reach out for confidential help through the FBA’s SOLACE program; and was a past volunteer at the St. Luke’s emergency room.
After 17 years as executive director of the chapter, Headlee stepped down during May 2021. Now the administrator of the Boise office of Parsons Behle & Latimer, Headlee says, “Volunteering in this capacity for the FBA is something I felt really strongly about. It was my way of giving back to the legal community. I’m in one of the best legal organizations in the city now, and a lot of that is due to my involvement with the federal judiciary and the Bar, so of course I wanted to contribute. If I’m doing a good job, that’s enough for me, but it was nice to be remembered today.”
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Dana Robinson
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Phone: 801.536.6647 Mobile: 801.541.4625
