Inspirational Woman Award

The Inspirational Woman Award evolved from “The Glass Ceiling Buster Award.” A great thanks to the hard work and distinguished service of many of the women who have come before us. Today, women lawyers can take pride in the fact that the glass ceiling has not been merely cracked by a few, but shattered by many.

2024 Inspirational Woman of the Year: Emily R. Carrara

Emily R. Carrara, founding member of Carrara Family Law LLC, has been practicing family law since 2001 for hundreds of families across Illinois. For the past 25 years, Emily has provided tailored representation catered to each client's needs, including utilizing alternative pathways for dispute resolution. Emily resolves cases expeditiously and confidentially to help all parties maintain their financial resources and dignity. Emily focuses her family law practice on the division of retirement assets, collaborative divorce, uncontested divorces, and mediation.

Emily serves as a Fellow of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois. She has been named a “Super Lawyer” and a “Leading Lawyer” in the area of Family Law, as well as one of the “8 Women to Watch” in DuPage County. For decades, Emily has taught and presented at countless family law seminars, discussing topics ranging from the disposition of retirement assets in divorce to guardian ad litem for children to guardianships and adoptions. In addition, Emily has extensive appellate experience, arguing many cases in the 2nd and 3rd Appellate districts and before the Illinois Supreme Court.

Emily is a member of the American Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the DuPage County Bar Association, the Kane County Bar Association, the DuPage County Association of Women Lawyers, and a Mediator for the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Court, and a volunteer and community leader in many capacities. Emily received her Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Illinois at Chicago with honors and an undergraduate degree from Boston University. Most importantly, Emily is a wife and mother (and a recent empty-nester!).

We honor and congratulate this year’s Inspirational Woman Award recipient, Emily R. Carrara.

Past Winners