Ms. JD | Changing the Face of the Legal Profession

Attend a National Girlfriends’ Networking Day event near you on June 4^th! CLICK HERE for more information!

Mark Your Calendars Now! Ms. JD’s 2014 Conference: Passion Forward is set for February 21-22, 2014 in Austin, Texas!

Submitted by editor

Ms. JD is proud to announce that our Sixth Annual Conference on Women and the Law will be February 21-22, 2014 at The University of Texas School of Law, in partnership with the Center for Women in the Law. We anticipate that this year’s conference, themed Passion Forward, will prove to be one of our most exciting and successful events to date.

Last year at She Leads we provided attendees with the tools to identify and develop their leadership skills. Now, fueled by Ms. JD’s passion for helping law students and young lawyers thrive, we plan to help participants set themselves apart by showcasing the things they are truly excited about.

Passion Forward will take participants through a day of workshops focused on identifying and showcasing your passion. First, we will help you identify what you’re passionate about and how you are best able to communicate those passions. Then, we’ll work with you to build skills that will help you display your passion to the world and set yourself apart in the legal profession and beyond. Finally, we’ll leverage the power of women supporting women to create a personalized master plan for presenting your passions after you leave the conference. In short, you will walk away the first day of Passion Forward with new and concrete skills to tell the world what is most important to you.

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending May 17, 2013

Submitted by Ms. JD Weekly R...

Do you play golf? This is the networking question that J. Kelly Hoey, a founder of Lean In.org, is asking professional women. Read more about her interesting perspective as a female member of the male-dominated bankruptcy and insolvency bar, and join one of the emerging Lean In communities today!

This was a big week for women's health! Angelina Jolie wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about her decision to have a double mastectomy, and New York City mayoral candidate Christine Quinn revealed her history with alcoholism and bulimia. The Forbes staff is providing a list of three important leadership lessons that can be learned from the tremendous bravery that we saw from women this week.

Are women apologizing for earning more than their husbands? Forbes' Peggy Drexler is taking a look at the "Breadwinner Complex" and the extent to which social expectations can create discord between professional couples.

The New Yorker is focusing on a new number: 5%. Read Michael Guerriero's article about how motherhood carries a 5% wage penalty for each child, and learn more about overcoming the motherhood wage gap!

How can we build diversity in the workplace? While some companies are focused on statistical tracking, a recent article in The Glass Hammer suggests that employers should focus on storytelling. Learn more about how to use personal narratives to enhance diversity in the workplace and improve gender parity!

Summer is the perfect season for branching out and meeting new people. Take it to the next level by participating in National Girlfriends Networking Day on June 4, 2013! Click here to learn more and register for an event near you!

The ABA Section of Litigation is now accepting applications for the Leadership Fellows Program and the Young Lawyers Leadership Program. Be sure to act fast! The deadline for both applications is May 31, 2013!

“Find Your Voice, Raise Your Voice”

Submitted by tanya f

Nancy O’Malley, Alameda County District Attorney, inspired hundreds of women on Saturday morning in San Francisco at the California Women Lawyers Annual Conference during her breakfast keynote speech on May 4, 2013. I’ve compiled my favorite quotes from O’Malley’s keynote to share with you all:

On Leadership:

People line up behind good leaders.

Those following role models become role models for those behind us.

Women—step up, become leaders, and take charge. Attitudes, laws, and resources of societies will change.

It takes guts and courage to move ahead.

Access to leadership is open to anyone that can say yes to the calling.

The Proverbial Bar Prep Wall

Submitted by JoanneEWilson

I keep getting asked for advice from fellow classmates now facing bar prep. One of the things I often get asked about is the dreaded "wall". People will swear to you that you are doomed to hit it. They tell me about how their friend's brother's friend during law school hit the wall and then failed the exam. There's never any details given about the wall. There's never any first hand accounts of the wall. So part of you starts to question this concept. But as bar prep goes on, people will tell you when you have a bad day that you are at the wall. And you're going to believe them.

Until you read this:

The wall is a lie.

Ok, well, maybe not complete lie but it is not this horrific event that everyone makes it out to sound like and you are not doomed.

Because you hit the wall everyday of bar prep.

The "wall" is your own fears.

Women Refer On National Girlfriends’ Networking Day

Submitted by editor

The voice on the telephone line was warm, friendly and professional.

“Judy Martin recommended you,” she said. “I’m building a network of keynote speakers and would love to add you to our MaestroMarket site.”

That’s the brilliant and accomplished Judy Martin, the founder of WorkLifeNation. Her name is worth a lot.

So it was easy for me to fall into ten minutes of “girl talk” with this complete stranger who’d had the courage to make a “cold call” with a “warm introduction.”

We chatted, as women tend to do, talking about MaestroMarket while lightly delving into relationships, gender politics, the business of business, children and what novels we’re both currently reading. We were creating a relationship – bonding.

Preparing For Your OCI Interviews

Submitted by Liz Stone

Congratulations, you have an on campus interview! Now you want to prepare properly. Here are some tips to get ready for your interview:

Research the Firm

It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many people enter a screening interview and declare their interest in environmental law, only to find out that office doesn’t have an environmental law practice! Know the practice areas in the office you are meeting. And look for recent articles or cases of interest.

Research Your Interviewers

Find out who you will be meeting with and learn about them as much as possible. In addition to their company profile, check LinkedIn and all other sources online. Have they worked anywhere else? What cases or deals have they worked on? Do you know anyone who knows them and can give you insight? The more information you have, the better.

Five Success Tips Every Summer Associate Should Know

Submitted by Desiree Moore

If you’ve landed a summer associate position in this job market, you should be proud. These positions are few and far between, reserved for the best and brightest. Still, your work doesn’t end here. This is just the beginning.

Consider that your summer is one long, extended interview, where your goal is to leave meaningful impressions on all of your law firm colleagues. While this may sound like a tall order, the good news is that it is completely doable. You have all of the tools at your disposal to be a constructive, productive member of your firm over the summer. You have all of the tools you need to succeed.

To take a step back, success as a summer associate generally does not mean that you’ve written a winning appellate brief or single-handedly closed a complex deal (you’re not licensed, so chances of doing substantive work independently at this level are remote, at best). Instead, your success will center in large part on those soft skills we don’t learn in law school but that, as it turns out, are among the most meaningful in the course of a successful legal career.

Here are five success tips every summer associate should know going into a law firm.

Join the Passion Forward Conference Planning Committee!

Submitted by Laura Bladow

Are you passionate about changing the face of the legal profession? Do you enjoy event planning? Join the conference planning committee for Ms. JD’s 6th annual national conference, Passion Forward, taking place in February 2014! To apply, please complete this questionnaire by 11:59 pm PST on June 2nd.

The Conference Planning Committee will work directly with Ms. JD's Board of Directors and Conference Coordinator to select speakers, design activities, and generally plan and promote our 2014 Conference. Membership on the Committee is an excellent opportunity to take on a leadership role in a highly visible national organization. Conference Planning Committee Leaders will be regularly recognized on Ms. JD's website and in materials related to the conference, thus garnering them national recognition for their work and commitment to women's issues. We invite both men and women to apply for the position and look forward to seeing your application!

In Praise of Mom Firms

Submitted by Merrilyarcher

Mom Firms, small/solo law practices consisting of accomplished female Biglaw refugees, can offer corporate/insurance clients greater efficiency, more control over file management, and superior attorney quality at more reasonable rates. The Mom Firm “lean and green” business model also stands as the antidote for well-known Biglaw billing abuses.

The Biglaw Brain Drain

One afternoon at Biglaw, I looked around and wondered, where did the exceedingly bright women with excellent academic credentials, strong litigation “chops”, and superb legal pedigrees go? After all, over 15 years earlier when I started out, nearly half of my law school classmates and contemporaries were women. But then, as we scratched our way up the law firm pyramid, our numbers dwindled markedly. Each year, one or two women just went: some went in-house in search of work-life balance; some went into government service; and many others chucked their promising legal careers entirely, convinced that work-family balance is unattainable in Law.

Leverage Your Judicial Clerkship for a Successful Private Sector Career: Clerks Who Publish, Part II

Submitted by Christine Schle...

This post continues our discussion from last month on publishing an article during a judicial clerkship.

Tenth, submit your cover letter and article after going through several iterations. If you are running behind or there has been a major change in the law ask the publisher if s/he will consider you for the next submission deadline. This works best with monthly publications and might not work with law reviews, some of which only accept articles twice a year.

Eleventh, be productive while waiting. You will have more fun with the publication process if you view it as just that, an iterative process through which your work, your thinking, and ultimately you as a professional will improve and become more marketable. That being said after you submit your cover letter and/or article to your list of first choice publishers continue to revise your work. Make sure that your research doesn’t stop when you start writing. Instead, continue to search trade journals, legal news, and Lexis/Westlaw for updates on your topic. Periodically incorporate these updates into a revised version of your article so that even if you are rejected from all your publishers you will be able to quickly turn around and target other journals with an updated piece of work.

Tech U: A Word on Tech & IP Law with Mr. David Adler, Esq.

Submitted by DWrenn

Technology and Intellectual Property (IP) law are vastly growing areas of the legal field. Law schools are offering more classes on subjects in each area; the American Bar Association is increasingly providing webinars and forums on major Tech and IP themes; and more attorneys are focusing their practices to those areas. More importantly, technology and intellectual property are affecting law school students and lawyers on a daily basis regardless of their preferred practice area. As students and lawyers continue utilizing social media and technology for work, marketing, and networking, the popularity of Tech and IP law will grow along with the importance of its proper usage.

Recently, Tech U caught up David Adler, Esq. for tips on how to better utilize tech and social media and his advice to budding IP & Tech lawyers.

A Matter of Simple Justice: A Deeper Conviction

Submitted by Kellie Wingate ...

Many of our ‘lady justice’ heroes are women lawyers with a cause we can all get behind. They’ve changed the world for the better by using their intellect, passion and influence to fight for the right to vote, for equal opportunity and equal pay, for an end to gender-based violence and for better treatment of children. We read their stories and we sense a kinship, even with those from decades past whose worlds pre-dated laptops and blogs by at least a century. Their stories inspire us and lift us up, but this is not the only method of defining a hero.

I came across a modern-day warrior this week as I read an old, online issue of The Guardian. She, too, is a lady lawyer who puts her skill and compassion to work helping others. She is clearly very bright and unafraid of standing against the tide of prejudice and short-sightedness that oppresses the innocent and impedes justice so often. On many occasions she has been the voice of reason during highly emotional human and political events. She has been described as private and unassuming as she carries out her mission to see that the law is applied equally to all people. So what makes her so controversial?

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending May 10, 2013

Submitted by Ms. JD Weekly R...

Here's an incredible video about Christine Beshar, the first female partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Take a look at her inspiring journey as a female trailblazer on Wall Street!

As professional women, we all want to be taken seriously. But it's also important to remember that humor can contribute to success in the workplace. The Forbes staff has provided a list of 10 Reasons Why Humor is Key to Success at Work. Read these tips and take your leadership skills to the next level!

We're all looking for ways to increase our professional opportunities, but is more education the answer? Think carefully before you increase your debt load! Harrison Barnes argues that advanced degrees do not necessarily translate into greater marketability. His latest article discusses whether an L.L.M. degree can meaningfully increase your chances of obtaining a better position. Read his article before you enroll!

Are women in tech more stressed out? A recent survey suggests that women in math, science, and engineering are experiencing more stress and less satisfaction with work-life balance than their male counterparts.

The debate about Sheryl Sandberg's thesis in Lean In is heating up! Should we focus on bringing men into the movement? Or should we focus on the underlying issues that hold women back? Read these new perspectives and tell us what you think!

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will be hosting the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers Achievement Awards. The awards were established to recognize and celebrate women lawyers who have excelled in their field and paved the way to success for other women lawyers. This year, the ceremony will take place on August 11, 2013 in San Francisco, CA. Click here to find out more about the honorees, sponsorship and tribute opportunities, and ticket orders!

Pro bono and hanging out: the social side of legal volunteer work

Submitted by miss_fiss

Now that I'm finally done with exams, I'm ready to take on a topic that I've been somewhat strategically waiting to introduce. I wanted to be all rested up and appropriately cheery before I brought this one up, because I think it's probably the most important post so far.

Let me first remind you: the mission here, and the purpose of my monthly column, is to give you, a slightly shy/bookish law student, ideas on how to get yourself out of your carrel and integrated into your law school community. Remember, your years in law school are an extremely important time to start "networking" with the people who are very soon going to be your professional colleagues. I say "networking" because I don't mean you should be going around giving your classmates your elevator speech and handing out business cards. I'm talking about making friends with them, building their confidence in you, and generally being the sort of person they'll want to help out someday when something spiffy comes across their desks.

So, *drumroll,* this month's suggestion: pro bono work.

Title VII’s Disparate Income Doctrine: The Difference It’s Made for Women

Submitted by nwlc

By Fatima Goss Graves and Amy K. Matsui, National Women's Law Center Cross-posted from ACSBlog

This week the Senate HELP Committee will vote on the nomination of Thomas Perez to be the next Secretary of Labor. In the midst of the many unfair and unfounded attacks lobbed against Mr. Perez in recent weeks, an important legal doctrine for combating sex discrimination has also come under attack: disparate impact. Under Mr. Perez’s leadership as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice, the Department has employed the longstanding disparate impact analysis to combat employment discrimination. Its application is not only legally sound, but exceptionally important to eliminate discrimination and further justice.

The Supreme Court and Congress have long made clear that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act “prohibits employers from using employment practices that cause a disparate impact” based on sex and other protected classes. The doctrine of disparate impact allows for a remedy when an employment practice that may be neutral on its face has an unjustified adverse effect on members of a protected class.