Ms. JD Summer Book Series: Sandra Day O'Connor, By: Joan Biskupic

Sandra Day O'Connor: How the First Woman on the Supreme Court Became Its Most Influential Justice, By: Joan Biskupic

In this biography of Sandra Day O'Connor, author Joan Biskupic takes the reader through the life of O'Connor, from her early days on the Lazy B Ranch through her time on the Supreme Court.  Biskupic portrays O'Connor as a sharp-witted, intelligent, and lively member of the Supreme Court. 

As a longtime court observer and journalist, Biskpuic is able to reveal much about O'Connor's life due to the use of the justices' once private papers.  The author specifically pays attention to O'Connor as the first female justice on the Supreme Court.  In one anecdote, Biskupic recounts a story of when the Supreme Court Justices were discussing a case.  During the discussion, Justice Scalia spoke out against affirmative action.  O'Connor replied: "Why, Nino, how do you think I got my job?

Must Read: ABA Commission on Women - Oral Histories of Women Trailblazers in the Law

The ABA Commission on Women has compiled the testimonials of 17 remarkable women, including Professor Barbara Babcock and Judge Dorothy Nelson - both Ms. JD contributors, and Judge Betty Weinberg Ellerin - one of this year's Honored Guests at Ms. JD's Student Leadership Summit closing banquet. The transcripts make for a long but inspiring read, repleat with colorful anecdotes about the barriers to early women lawyers.

Profile & interview with Michelle Obama, lawyer and "super juggler" [Clippings]

Yesterday the Wall Street Journal profiled and interviewed Michelle Obama (J.D., Harvard Law School, 1988). Hat tip to John J. Edwards III at the WSJ Juggle Blog, who suggests reading the pieces for the perspective of a "super juggling" two-lawyer family with kids.

Must Read: The Counselors by Elizabeth Vrato

In 1991, Hillary Rodham Clinton in her capacity as President of the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession established the Margaret Brent Award "to recognize some of the women who were crashing through the glass ceiling and changing the world." Elizabeth Vrato interviewed 18 recipients and collected their stories in her book, Counselors: Conversations with 18 Courageous Women Who Have Changed the World.

Lisa Richette, An Uncommon Judge [Clippings]

A classmate just sent me a link to Dick Polman's profile of Judge Lisa Richette in Obit Magazine, with the comment that Richette was "an amazing, inspiring, rebellious judge."

The Honorable Sandra L. Lynch: First Woman Appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

The Honorable Sandra L. Lynch, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit since 1995, is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Boston University Law School where she was Articles Editor of the Law Review. After clerking for Judge Raymond J. Pettine of the U.S.