Hodgson Russ attorney receives Athena Award

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), May 17, 2004 by Staff

Pamela Davis Heilman was honored with the 15th annual ATHENA Award at a luncheon presentation ceremony on April 29, at the Hyatt Regency, Buffalo. Heilman is the vice president of the business division of Hodgson Russ LLP.

The ATHENA Award honors an individual who has attained and personifies the highest level of professional excellence, demonstrates dedication to leadership opportunities for women professionals, and provides significant assistance on their behalf. The ATHENA award program is administered by the nonprofit ATHENA Foundation, which supports programs in more than 350 cities worldwide. Proceeds from the event benefit the WNY Women's Fund, which supports innovative solutions to the issues and needs of women and girls in the Buffalo Niagara region.

In addition to serving as one of Hodgson Russ's two vice presidents, Heilman is a member of the firm's corporate & securities and international/cross-border practice groups, concentrating her practice in the areas of international commercial transactions for nonprofit and professional corporations, including mergers and acquisitions.

She is one of the lead lawyers in Hodgson Russ's cross-border Canada/U.S. practice and regularly counsels Canadian organizations and businesses considering expansion into the United States.

Heilman has devoted substantial time to the promotion of women in international business and the development of cross-border business relationships. In 1997 she served as an advisor to the Business Women's Team Canada Trade Mission to Washington D.C. and was panel chairperson at the annual APEC Women Leader's Network Conference held in Ottawa.

Since its inception, she has served on the bi-national panel of judges for the Canadian American Business Achievement Award. She represented Hodgson Russ as a sponsor of the Canada-U.S. Business Women's Trade Summit in Toronto in 1999, which was attended by 150 women-owned businesses each from Canada and the United States.

Heilman's many business and community affiliations include serving since 1995 as a member of the board of directors and secretary of SJL Communications LP, which owns and manages network television broadcast stations throughout the United States.

She was recently elected to the board of the Canadian American Business Council. Heilman is a member of the board of directors of Financial Institutions, Inc. and chairman of its management development and compensation committee.

Heilman received a J.D. with honors from University at Buffalo Law School, State University of New York and an A.B. with honors from Vassar College.