Bringing the Women Back: Law School Paves the Way for Women in the Profession

I am no stranger to classrooms where one gender radically outnumbers the other. My undergraduate college continues to maintain a ratio of 1 man for every 3 women despite going co-ed four decades ago. As a graduate student in philosophy, I usually found myself just one of only 2 or 3 women in 20 person seminars. I entered law school at the University of Illinois eager for a more balanced classroom. I knew that most first tier schools have a 45/55 split in genders favoring men.

Hi. I'm an addict.

Confession time: I’m an email addict. Seriously. I have five email addresses that I constantly check most days (it tends to die down a little between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning). I think I probably spend most of my “working time” composing and answering emails, particularly since I have gone far enough into my law school career to be somewhat indifferent to reading for class. By the end of the week, I’m so sick of emailing that I have even been able to overcome my long-standing, deeply-rooted aversion to the phone, and starting ringing people up.

Networking

Today I received my final rejection letter for a 1L summer associate position. Naively, I thought that having a bit of firm and administrative law experience and being en route to a JD from a top 15 law school would have appeal somewhere. So I applied machine gun style: I sent my resume to over 30 firms in the Bay area, hoping I'd hit at least one or two. Turns out, it was more like zero. Over 30 little white envelopes filled my mailbox over the following two weeks.

The Work-Life Balance Sales Pitch

Wallflower is a 3L at NYU School of Law

It's hard to imagine any law student making it out of law school without being bombarded with talk about the extended hours attorneys work and the difficulty many have in maintaining both a happy home life and a successful career. Long hours, stressful working conditions, and having little time for social lives are challenges most attorneys face. In my experience, however, the work-life balance issue is most often discussed as a problem that primarily affects women or parents, and in my opinion, this does a disservice to all attorneys.

During my 2L interview process, seven of the eight firms with which I had callback interviews emphasized how woman-friendly the firm was. At these seven firms, I had face time with female partners; at one of them, two of the three partner interviews and all of the associate interviews were with women. Also at these seven firms, I heard about policies regarding flex-time and part-time opportunities (brought up without prompting from me), pro bono programs, and mentoring programs for female attorneys.

Lone Skirt in a Sea of Pants

By a Second-Year Law Student

Interview season can be a tough time for 1-Ls. They have white resumes and short transcripts, and they feed on the crumbs left by their 2-L peers. Landing a firm job is a challenge for any 1-L, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, or any other classification.

Improve Your Chances of Getting on Law Review

Tips from a 3L at Stanford Law School

Mujeres en la justicia

By Sina, a 2L at Yale Law School

Do not be fooled by appearance. That is the first lesson Buenos Aires, Argentina taught this chica. Sure, I was enchanted by the large luscious steaks, the ubiquitous fine wine, the gorgeous people, and stately buildings. I wanted to believe in a place where a five course dinner costs 30 pesos (US$15) and where I could spend all afternoon in a spa, exit manicured, waxed, and massaged for less than 18 pesos (US$6). But in the end, sometimes the sweet smell is exactly what tells you something has gone terribly sour.

The UN as a Family-Friendly Employer

By a Second-Year Law Student

Enfranchising the Classroom

“Why speak more than absolutely necessary in class?,” a law student might wonder with some justification. First-year exams are blind graded, and ill-phrased comments could result in embarrassment in class, or, worse, expose a student to subsequent derision among his or her peers. Women appear to take the potentially negative consequences of volunteering in class more seriously than men though. Several prominent studies have demonstrated that women speak less in law school classes, and word of mouth indicates that that tendency continues at least at some institutions. But why should this matter?