I absolutely know what you are talking about, and I admit that I have been frustrated many a time to see the office secretary (even if she has been working at the office for literally 20x longer than I have) shopping online and giving me instructions on how to do something myself that technically is within her job description. I also agree that even if the male new hires are also told where to stick it if they try to actually get a senior secretary to do something for them, more deference and respect is shown to them. Part of me gets it though. After all, especially for the older women administrative staff, a lot of the opportunities that were available to me educationally were not available to them. The pressure to get married young was replaced with pressure to get an education, so I'm lucky to be in a position where even if I am a single mom someday, I'll be able to support my family financially without too much stress. I can understand, given this disparity, why some of the female staff might feel resentful (or even jealous), particularly if they've devoted decades to a career that has topped them out at a level where they are still expected to be at the beck and call of someone who is young enough to be their daughter (or even granddaughter). For all these reasons, I try to give credit where credit is due and show a lot of respect and defenrce to the older female support staff. If I have time, I do things myself that I technically could ask them to do because I find that then when I really need something done, they do it for me with goodwill (and more efficiently than they do it for my colleagues who try to pull rank on them). Finally, I treat them as equals and take the time to get to know them. I buy lunch occasionally or bring in candy or sweets. It sounds stupid, but simple interpersonal touches can often melt the resentment and turn administrative foes into really helpful co-workers. I agree that it is still annoying that you have to cajole people who are hired to help you to do their jobs well, but if you think about what they are getting paid and what their job satisfaction must be like (and pay heed to the old "respect your elders" addage), then I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

can be found here.

You couch this forum post from the angle that the support staff women may be jealous of you.  I would say that you might consider that it isn't jealousy at all.  For some it may be that they actually think you are out of place and that women shouldn't be lawyers.  They may actually feel like women belong in the support staff role and your presence outside of that is making their life more difficult to handle.

Here is how I would deal with it.  Kill them with kindness.  Take time to really ask them about their weekends and their families.  Ask them for advice.  Compliment their shoes or their earings, if either are nice.  Approach them face to face when you need their support rather than calling/emailing/or yelling from your office.  Never, never, never talk about them to others in the office.  Don't gossip or share your frustrations with them with anyone that may have contact with them.  Perhaps, you're already keen on this last tip which is why you posted here! :)