Women's History Month Spotlight: Liz Hudak

The Bronx. The 1950’s. The Yankees win eight pennants and six series, topped by Don Larsen’s perfect game. Is it any wonder that the little Bronx girl who grew up to be a lawyer, a councilwoman, a wife, a mother and a civic leader took time out to teach her son how to swing a bat?

Liz Hudak’s greatest role model was her own mother, a woman who considered herself lucky to graduate from high school. Just a few years later, working as a government department head, she hired — and subsequently married — Hudak’s father. Widowed by the time Hudak was 8 years old, her mother forged ahead as a single parent.

Her son Kevin Hudak said that his mother exemplifies the best qualities of the woman who raised her.

“Everything my grandmother had, the strength and tenacity, is magnified and amplified in my mom," he said. "She’s her mother’s daughter.”

Hudak knew from an early age that she was destined for law. In eighth grade she understood the workings of the Supreme Court so well that her teacher named her “lawyer for the class.”

After attending Fordham University, she went on to Brooklyn Law, graduated in 1979 and was admitted to the bar in 1980. Starting out with a focus in real estate, she switched to litigation and matrimonial law, including divorce, custody and domestic issues.

“I found I had the temperament for it,” she said. “There are plenty of men who do a great job, but as women we’re predisposed to be involved in this field.”

She’s happy to say that women are treated much more equally today than they once were. She recalls having had professors who advised their female students not to wear pants in the courtroom — only skirts and dresses.

“In the old days you might have a judge who was more deferential because you were a woman. Today there is no deference.”

Every day in her practice Hudak sees how the role of women has changed. More and more women are wage earners. More and more men choose to share in childcare. 

Like gender roles, law has changed too, Hudak says, with the development of specialties. She advises potential law students to examine specific concentrations from the beginning.

“I still think it’s a great profession and a great career for women," she said.

Balancing her own career with parenthood was a challenge that got easier over time. When her son was born in 1985 she focused less on her career and more on raising her child. Seven years later, when her son Kyle came along, she was back working full-time.

“I took a one hour maternity leave,” she jokes.

Hudak says her greatest accomplishment, “without being too sappy," was having two kids of whom she can be proud. Kyle is now a senior at Brewster High hoping to study law. Kevin is a political strategist in Virginia.  

After her children, she's proud of the fact that she is the first member of her family to graduate from law school. Being happily married for almost 33 years is also very gratifying.

Her most recent achievement was being elected to the Southeast Town Board, where she is currently the only woman. If the town is happy with her, she’d be happy to run for a second term.

“It’s quite the interesting board,” she said, adding that it can get rather “contentious.”

Hudak also has served as the Chair of Search for Change and is presently the President of Putnam County Legal Aid. Public service has always been a priority, as Hudak feels it's important for women to give back to the community.

Dissatisfied with the role that society thrust upon them, she explained, they fought to rise above the limits.

“Now ‘rising above’ is something considered to be quite ordinary."