Reflections from a Headhunter & Hiring Partner: Stopping Sexual Harassment (Enough is Enough!)

It’s a familiar story. A woman associate is sexually harassed by a partner. The harassment may be subtle or grotesque, occasional or frequent, or hint at a quid pro quo.  It may be fueled by martinis at midnight or take place at lunch. It may happen in the office, at a restaurant, or at a firm meeting. Between 5 and 10 percent of the 5,500 women lawyers and law students I’ve met since 1977 report they have been harassed. I believe that number understates the scope of the problem. 

Firms must enforce a zero-tolerance, no-exception rule against sexual harassment. The legality of the conduct is for others to debate. Senior management must recognize that harassment is offensive, unprofessional and inappropriate.  It derails and damages careers. It’s time that law firms stop writing hall passes for misconduct.

After the jump, a typical harasser, a typical management response, and some harsh realities about the way to change the culture that allows for both ...

Solid Advice for Junior Associates from the Legal Intelligencer

Over at Law.com The Legal Intelligencer has a great advice column from the Young Lawyer Editorial Board for junior associates titled Associates, Take Ownership of Your Legal Work.  The key insight: deliver the best possible work to your assigning partner by pretending they'll never see it.

... approach your research, writing, proofing and editing with the awareness that your input could be the last -- or only -- before filing, the intensity and focus will magically follow. ... imagine that the client or judge will be the only other set of eyes on your memorandum, you will demand more of yourself.

I suggest you read the entire column for great tips on how to report a mistake you've made up the ladder, how and when to take initiative, and how to clarify an assignment to maximize the utility of the hours you bill. 

2009 Partner Class: Stagnant for Women Lawyers

In a recent press release, The Project for Attorney Retention reported that Law firms' 2009 partner class shows little progress for women.

The good news is that at 23 of the 100 firms surveyed by the Project for Attorney Retention, the new partner classes were at least 40% female.  The bad news is that the gain is offset by the failure of 14 firms to make any female partners.

The 50 Best Law Firms for Women - 2008

Click here to go straight to the list.

Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother Magazine have just released their 2008 ranking of "The 50 Best Law Firms for Women." You can download a PDF of the press release from www.flextimelawyers.com.

Reminder: Register for free NYC networking event by MAY 15 (the event will be on June 4th)

If you'll be in New York next month and you haven't yet registered, consider attending the free networking reception & presentation at White & Case on June 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We covered her survey here and here.) The deadline to RSVP is TOMORROW, May 15th. Hope to see you there! More details after the jump...

Open invitation to Debbie Epstein Henry talk & networking reception in NYC @ White and Case (RSVP required)

Catherine Gratton and Kelly Hoey at the White & Case Women's Network have extended an invitation to Ms. JD readers in the NYC area to attend a free networking reception & presentation on June 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry (one of our favorite women in law) talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We analyzed her survey results here and here.) You can RSVP online until May 15th. See the flyer after the jump for more details...

Must Read: Judge Kaye & Anne Reddy on Women in Firms

Twenty years ago Judith Kaye - now the Chief Judge of New York's Court of Appeals and a keynote speaker at Ms. JD's Student Leadership Summit - published a breakthrough study in the Fordham Law Review on the state of gender equity in law firms. In their current volume Fordham Law Review is publishing a follow-up, "The Progress of Women Lawyers at Big Firms: Steadied or Simply Studied?"

There's good news and bad. Since 1988 there are more female attorneys and more female attorneys in senior positions. But inequities remain - in compensation and in position.

• In 1988, fewer than 8% of partners at big firms were women, although the associate entry-level class was 40% female. In 2007, women accounted for 16% of equity partners, 26% of nonequity partners, and 30% of “of counsel” lawyers, although the associate entry-level class was close to half female.
• As recently as November 2007, the National Association of Women Lawyers found that, of thirty-five firms willing to report compensation by gender, the average median compensation of a male equity partner was almost $90,000 higher than that of a female equity partner, $27,000 higher than that of a female nonequity partner, and $20,000 higher in the of counsel position.
• 90% of firms report their top earning member is a man.

I recommend the article, especially to those considering a career in a big firm.

White & Case's Women's Initiative - Supporting Women in the Law

Women are increasingly taking on more leadership roles both in law firms and corporations across the United States and abroad.

Open invitation to Debbie Epstein Henry talk & networking reception in DC @ White and Case (RSVP required)

Kelly Hoey (White and Case) & Anna MacCormack (NYU Law School) have very nicely extended an invitation to Ms. JD readers in the DC area to attend a free networking reception & presentation on Feb. 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry (another of our favorite women in law) talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We analyzed her survey results here and here.) You can RSVP until January 31st. See the flyer after the jump for more details...

The revolution of falling expectations

In the 1960s, social critics spoke about the "revolution of rising expectations," describing the phenomenon in which succeeding generations of Americans expected to do better than their parents and the conflicts that resulted when they did not.

If the latest issue of Working Mother magazine trumpeting the "50 Best Law Firms for Women" is any indication, we are now in the midst of "the revolution of falling expectations," which will have its own serious consequences.