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Best of Levo League, Week Ending January 27, 2012

Submitted by Ms. JD

Editor's Note: Ms. JD is proud to announce our newest strategic partnership with another online community for professional women, the Levo League! Here are our favorites from Levo League's recent publications.

1. The Wednesday WTF

Way back in 1983, Working Woman magazine conducted a survey reported by the New York Times. The conclusion of this survey? That, according to 56 percent of the employed men and 43 percent of the employed women in the survey, career-oriented women should not be mothers.

Fast-Forward to 1998: The University of Michigan releases research indiciating that the daughters of employed mothers have been found to have higher academic achievement, greater career success, more nontraditional career choices, and greater occupational commitment.

Just a little food for thought.

Ms. JD Weekly Round-up: Week Ending January 27, 2012

Submitted by Ms. JD Weekly R...

Get out your calendars, there is so much good stuff on the horizon in 2012:

February 3rd at the ABA Mid-Year in New Orleans join us at Visible Invisibility: Breaking Down Barriers to Women's Leadership
February 23rd join us at the NAWL Mid-Year in Los Angeles
October 6th, don't miss Ms. JD's 5th annual conference She Leads, in D.C.
December 6-7th finish out the year strong at the ABA WILL Academy!

Every now and then the personal is political, like when you need to breastfeed your newborn baby and you're a member of parliament.

This week's viral read: Emily Rapp on the Enduring Power of Women's Friendships

From the department of super cool summer jobs: Electronic Frontier Foundation is hiring summer interns; apply by February 17th with cover letter, resume, an links to online writing samples.

Congratulations to Felicity Aston, the first woman to ski solo across Antarctica.

What No One Tells You Before You Go To Law School: It’s Impossible to Know If You’re Making “The Right” Choice

Submitted by alisonmonahan

A lot of people go to law school because they think it’s “the right” thing to do. Maybe they’ve always been argumentative, or never really liked math, or have a vague idea that a career in law would be exciting and lucrative (just like on TV!). Social pressure starts building, no entry-level jobs materialize, and – before you know it – you’re sitting for the LSAT! Things go pretty well, fee waivers appear, and, just like that, it’s time to start classes. Whoa, what just happened?!?

Let’s take a collective deep breath, shall we, and back up. How can you figure out if law school’s the right choice for you? Once you’re in school, how do you know which career path is best? The harsh reality is that you can’t, really.

One of my favorite law professors put it this way:

When you’re faced with several options, all with their own pros and cons (but none of them obviously better or worse), you may as well hang all the options up on the wall and throw darts at them to chose. Will the outcome fundamentally impact your life? Yes. Can you predict how beforehand? No.

Suffice it to say we didn’t find this advice very satisfying. One option must be better! One must be worse! And it must be possible to know which is which before deciding!

Face It, You Can’t Really Know

His point was that, yes, the decision was important, critical even, but the outcome wasn’t fully predictable. What if you chose a firm, hate the work and cry in your office every day, but end up meeting your much-beloved future husband during a settlement meeting with opposing counsel? Did you make “the right” choice? How about if you chose a different first job, never meet that particular potential husband, love the work and your life, but get hit by a bus on the way to court? Morbid, perhaps, but it could happen!

Ironically, once we let go of the idea that there’s a single “right“ choice, it’s easier to realistically evaluate the options we do have, and, hopefully, make a “good” choice (or, at a minimum, avoid the multitude of possible bad choices, which generally are predictable).

So, how do you make a good choice?

Don’t rush into anything. If there’s a voice in the back of your head telling you that maybe you should wait on law school, or that you don’t really want the job you just applied for, listen to it!

Women Battle Law Firm Bias

Submitted by kgmcg999

Gender diversity is good for business. As a 2010 McKinsey Global Survey reported, 72 percent of executives "believe there is a direct connection between a company's gender diversity and its financial success." The study also noted that companies with the greatest gender diversity had better than average operating results and returns on equity. Yet, despite these monetary benefits and legal prohibitions on sex discrimination, women have yet to make significant inroads in the power structure and profit sharing at BigLaw.

Admittedly, law has been a male-dominated profession for centuries, but females have provided much of the brainpower since the 1980s. Thirty years of acclimatization has done little to convince the old boys who run these clubs that women deserve full membership in proportion to their representation among the worker bee associate class.

The number of female equity partners at major firms has hovered around 15 percent for the last twenty years. (Equity partners have an ownership interest and receive the largest compensation.) This ceiling is especially troubling given women have constituted at least 40 percent of enrolling law students since 1985 and reached a high of 50 percent in 1999. Additionally, women’s representation in the ranks of associates entering major firms after graduation has been roughly comparable.

The National Association of Women Lawyers 2011 survey of the country’s 200 largest law firms the considered other markers of women’s status. Of the 121 firms responding, 77 percent have at most two women on their governing bodies, which are typically comprised of about ten members. Worse, female equity partners on average earn only 86% of the amount their male peers earn.

This continuing disparity has been the source of much commentary. Analysts have suggested causes ranging from a lack of mentors to women’s failure to self-promote.

But as this pattern has continued, the hard truth has begun to surface. The primary cause is sexism, generously described as “unconscious bias.”

Rain Check: Sowing the Seeds of Rainmaking

Submitted by Henslee Schwartz LLP

Of all the concepts learned and knowledge gained during law school, there is one glaring omission that is not found in any textbooks or discussed amongst the Rule of Perpetuities or World-Wide Volkswagen—rainmaking. What is rainmaking you ask? For the cynical reader, it is what we, as lawyers, do in order to ensure that we can make our student loan payments each month. For everyone else, rainmaking is how lawyers bring in clients.

Over the next year, Susan Abbott Schwartz, the Managing Partner of Henslee Schwartz LLP, and two of her associates (and budding rainmakers), Leila Henderson Gary and Meredith Prykryl Walker, will be sharing their commentary and advice, and a few war stories along the way, on rainmaking from a woman’s perspective.

To begin the New Year, we want to provide our readers with some food for thought on where the rainmaking process begins for everyone—whether you are just beginning law school or have been practicing for twenty-five years. As with many things in life, rainmaking is all about relationships: you must plant seeds of good relationships and a good reputation before the rain comes in order to ensure that the rain brings new growth in the form of clients. We will end the crop-growing analogy there, but you get the picture.

Women Lawyers Who Rock: The Woman Who Started Women’s Legal Careers and More

Submitted by ms.marisa

Seeing as my column is dedicated to recognizing awesome female lawyers and law students, I found it appropriate to focus my introductory entry on one of the very first women to start it all, Arabella Mansfield.

Also known as Belle Babb Mansfield, Mansfield was the first woman lawyer admitted to the practice of law in the United States. In 1869, despite Iowa law requiring bar applicants to be white males over the age of 21, at just 23-years-old, Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa bar after passing the bar exam with high scores. Mansfield’s accomplishment paved the way for Iowa legislature to amend its laws to allow women and minorities to practice law.

Although proud of successfully obtaining her law degree, Mansfield’s passion for educating and advocating prevailed, and she decided not to practice law. A devout advocate of women's rights, Mansfield joined the executive committee of the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869. Not long after, Mansfield became president and chair of the first Iowa state-wide women’s suffrage convention.

Following her passion for educating others, Mansfield became one of the first female college professors and administrators in the United States and became dean of the Schools of Art and Music at DePauw University in Indiana. Later, she taught at Wesleyan College and Simpson College in Iowa.

Thanks to Mansfield’s hard work in campaigning for women’s equal educational opportunities and voting rights, more women were able to accomplish their goals faster and with greater confidence.

Deservingly, Mansfield was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall of Fame in 1980. Women in the legal world at any level should have confidence and pride in their work, just as Mansfield did. Her strength and determination surely resonates today as female practitioners and law students have taken the opportunity to thrive in a prestigious profession and have shown that they are beyond capable and fit to do so.

Raising the Bar: When you have to retake

Submitted by jspitznagel11

October 6th, 2011 was the day that they released the pass list for those of us that took the July Bar in Colorado. I'll never forget scanning the list, excitement and anticipation building, then scanning it again, wondering where my name was. However, the next ten minutes are blurry- I vaguely remember that I was calling my mom, clutching the cat, sobbing, and trying to eat a cupcake all at the same time.

For those of us that are facing another Bar exam, it's easy to get discouraged. Or pissed off that we'll have to unwrap all of our food and put it in a little plastic bag to take into another intense exam. Or even embarrassed when we sit through that CLE where the presenters keep congratulating everyone on passing

There are two aspects of Bar Prep attack that I'd suggest for us second(+) timers: mental preparation and study planning.

Mental preparation:

Ms. JD and Levo League Partnership - The DQs Show Us Why Women Helping Women Works!

Submitted by K.M.L.H.

Editor's Note: Ms. JD is proud to announce our newest strategic partnership with another online community for professional women, the Levo League! (www.levoleague.com) Through our partnership, Ms. JD and Levo League will share content, plan joint events, and even offer online bootcamps. Look for more exciting announcements about the partnership in the coming weeks!

Ms. JD views this partnership as an important step forward along the theme of women helping women. In that vein, we sought out a great example of how women can help women for our first joint post. We found it, in the DQs ("The Dancin' Queens"). To see the post on Levo League go here.

Welcome to the Ms. JD corner on Levo League! We’re thrilled to be starting a new partnership to help provide legal content to all L(L) readers and to expand the network of women connecting to one another through L(L) and Ms. JD. When Amanda Pouchot and I agreed to a Ms. JD/Levo League partnership, we talked about the importance of women helping women. I told Amanda that women in business are actually the ones who are most able to affect the path of women in the law: “You are the client. You can choose to whom you send your work. If you send business to a woman, she gets credit for it and that helps her advance at her firm.” Amanda’s response: “You have to write that. It’s going to be our first Ms. JD Corner post!”

A Firm of Their Own

Submitted by Jessie and Krystle

Earlier this year during a Women’s Networking Dinner at an ABA conference, we were introduced to a Washington D.C. area women-owned law firm, O’Brien Jones PLLC. Impressed and inspired by the women of O’Brien Jones, we left the event knowing that we had to bring attention to the firm and the many other wonderful women-owned firms across the country. Our second goal in writing this column is to inspire and assist women who have been thinking about going on their own.

The topic of our column is hardly a new one. Just last year, the ABA published a fantastic collection of similar stories in “The Road to Independence: 101 Women’s Journeys to Starting Their Own Firms.” But it’s a topic that continues to deserve attention, as diversity efforts in large firms continue to stagnate.

According to the November 2011 NALP bulletin, “The Demographics of Equity,” women account for only 9.5% of equity partners and only 10.7% of non-equity partners in American law firms. When faced with these strikingly low statistics and the difficult environment that accounts for them, it is no surprise that more and more women choose to circumvent the traditional partnership track and establish their own firms.

These firms enjoy some special advantages. A brief overview of the national programs designed to advance women and minority-owned firms after the jump …

Out of Practice: Why I Chose an Alternative Legal Career

Submitted by Brenda Hernandez

Prospective Student: Did you graduate from here?

Me: Yes, in 2009.

P.S.: So, what do you do now?

Me: This. [insert uncomfortable laughter]

P.S.: No, I mean where do you practice?

Me: I don’t. I’m the Assistant Director of Admissions. [point to name tag]

P.S.: Ohhh….

Now the “oh” is usually followed with a look of confusion or pity. People are often confused as to why a law school graduate would choose not to practice. Mostly, they assume I couldn’t find a “real” legal job.

What’s the real story? Why wouldn’t a law grad practice? Why would someone study for two bar exams, pass and then accept a job in a field that doesn’t require bar passage?

I’ll start at the beginning. I entered law school in the fall of 2006. I never had my heart set on being a litigator, prosecutor or a public defender. After spending two years after college as a teacher’s assistant at an alternative high school, I wanted to pursue education policy or work for a children’s non-profit. Entering law school knowing that it had all the tools I needed to succeed, without necessarily the profession I desired, made it easier to keep an open mind about careers post graduation.

The Grateful Attorney (?)

Submitted by Bgborkowski

Hello! My name is Barbara. I am a law school graduate who was just admitted into the State Bar of California, and I am unemployed. There! I said it--I am unemployed.

In law school, I did everything “right.” I maintained decent grades, was on Law Review, Trial Practice Honors Board, and the Moot Court Board. Yet, I find myself unemployed, along with scores of other highly qualified attorneys. However, this blog is not about complaining about my unemployment, but detailing my quest to find employment and, hopefully, a way to give others some tips on what job seeking strategies work for me. Like everything I do in life, I am putting a lot of work into finding the perfect position and have learned a few things along the way. Also, I hope this blog provides some moral support because I DO understand what job seekers are going through!

I am a grateful attorney despite being unemployed. I would not change my decision to move to California, go to law school and give up a whole summer to the Bar. You see, my family members remember that when I was five years old I used to tell anyone that would listen that I wanted to be a lawyer. I have been able to accomplish my dream! I am a lawyer and I am grateful.

Ms. JD Weekly Round-up: Week Ending January 20, 2012

Submitted by Ms. JD Weekly R...

Ms. JD's 2012 Fellowship Application Period is Open! What are the benefits of Fellowship? Among other things, Fellows are paired with mentors from among the ABA's Margaret Brent Award Winners and Presidential Commission on Women in the Profession Members. Check out this article on mentorship from one of last year's Fellowship pairs, Pat Gillette and Katie Larkin-Wong.

Breaking News: Men from Earth. Women from ...Earth. Thanks for the Reality Check Prof. Williams!

This week AmLaw launched their Women Partner Watch. AmLaw thinks 30% of new partner promotions is a useful benchmark against which to measure firms. We disagree. Strongly. Especially when you're not distinguishing between equity and non-equity partners.

After 120 years, Hull House is closing its doors.

Sign of bad economic times: for the first time in 17 years the number of part-time lawyers has declined.

Hopefully you saw our special SOPA/PIPA round up on Wednesday. Forbes has an interesting article on what the blackout really meant in economic terms.

Apply for the 2012-2013 Ms. JD Fellowship!

Submitted by editor

The Ms. JD Fellowship, one of our most popular programs, is open for applications!

In 2010, Ms. JD partnered with the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession to found the Ms. JD Fellowship. The Fellowship is Ms. JD's program to promote mentoring and professional development. Each spring, Ms. JD selects a group of outstanding second year law students as Fellowship winners. In addition to receiving financial support and invitations to ABA and Ms. JD events, each Fellowship winner is paired with a mentor chosen from among the Brent Award Winners and ABA Commission on Women in the Profession Commissioners. To read more about one Fellow's experience, click here.

Next year's fellows are getting a new opportunity to work together on a project for women in the law. Each year, the fellows tell us that one of the best parts of the fellowship is meeting the other incredible rising 3Ls. They also say they wish they had more opportunities to interact with one another. This year's class will get that opportunity. In addition to their mentorship, the fellows will choose a project that they want to work on as a group. With Ms. JD's support, they will have the chance to spend the year working together to help change the face of the legal profession the way they want to see it changed. To get the project ideas flowing, we're asking this year's fellow applicants to propose their ideal project as part of their application.

The project essays from the winning fellows will be posted on Ms. JD's blog and you'll hear from the fellows next year when they announce what their project will be!

Here's what you'll need to submit to apply for the fellowship:

1. Resume (Must include a link to your LinkedIn Profile)

2. Transcript

3. 1 paragraph (250 words) completing the question "I want and deserve to be a Ms. JD Fellow because"

4. 1 paragraph (250 words) completing the question "If I could design a project to further women in the law, it would be"

A couple tips:

1. You should consider that the fellows are nationwide and will need to be able to work on the project together but remotely (through conference calls, google docs, etc.) so that your project is practical.

2. Consider leveraging the Ms. JD platform. How can you help women law students through NWLSO? Is there something you could do to further the Global Education Fund? Do you love the Ms. JD Library? What have you noticed at school or work that needs to change and what can you do to help change it? This is your chance to consider what you're passionate about and then run with it!

3. We're asking you for your LinkedIn profile because having one is a huge part of your professional identity. If you haven't developed your profile yet, now is a great time to start! Also, from a practical standpoint, there's a fellows group on LinkedIn that allows all of the fellows from the previous classes to interact with one another.

Submit your application to fellowship@ms-jd.org. Applications are due February 17, 2012 at midnight. Ms. JD will announce Fellowship finalists at the beginning of March. Finalists will complete interviews with two Ms. JD board members by the end of March and the Ms. JD Fellows and their mentors will be announced in April.

Personal Branding Corner: Do You Hide Behind Your Work Or Do You Show Up and Represent?

Submitted by Katy Goshtasbi

As business owners and employee, we try to do a little of everything as best we can. It is hard enough to run a business or be a good employee and get the substantive work done.

Then there is the other type of work that has to do with networking and showing up and representing. This is where it gets harder and harder and harder, especially if you are fixated on the substantive work. This is particularly true for professionals, such as lawyers and doctors, who have a large identity around what they do for a living.

I often get feedback from clients and those in my networking/personal branding classes that they feel it is good enough to show up at a networking event. Why do they have to be happy about being there or resolve to do things differently while at the event. Or worse, there are those folks that have the following excuse about why they don't show up in public and sell their personal brand- they often say that their work speaks for itself as a first impression and so no one needs to meet them or see them.

Click HERE to read the rest.

SOPA Round Up: A Ms. JD Special on the Day the Internet went "Silent"

Submitted by editor

As many of you have probably noticed or heard by now, several high profile internet sites are "down" today in protest of the SOPA/PIPA bills that Congress is set to take up in the coming weeks. The bills are intended to control internet piracy and give the government greater powers to shut down websites based abroad that are a source of pirated movies for people in the U.S. But many content providers claim the new law will be harmful to commerce on the net. Google claims it will be forced to shutter YouTube if the legislation is passed.

We thought we'd help you get familiar with the issues through a special Ms. JD Round Up on the day the internet went (well, sorta) silent.

Let's start with the sites that went quiet today. Here's a report (with slides!) from the Atlantic. It's not exhaustive but it gives you a good flavor for some of the big names.

Politico's also got a long story about the good, the bad, and the ugly on the debate. It's a good place to get an idea of who the players are and what they're arguing about.