The Prosecution Rests: Jackie Lacey

It is not easy being third in command of one of the largest district attorney offices in the country, but to those who know her, Jacquelyn Lacey makes it seem effortless. Jackie has been a prosecutor for nearly 24 years in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, an office of about 1,056 deputy district attorneys most notably known for the prosecutions of O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, and - ironically - the doctor accused of causing Michael Jackson’s death. As Assistant District Attorney of Line Operations, Jackie oversees the Bureau of Central Operations and the Bureaus of Branch and Area Operations Regions I and II. These bureaus contain about 500 prosecutors who handle the majority of cases for the LADA. Jackie has nine years of executive management experience, and is a member of District Attorney Steve Cooley’s executive staff. As a deputy district attorney, Jackie tried over 60 felony jury trials, including eleven murder trials. She sought and received a death verdict in People v. Richard Browne, a case in which the defendant Richard Browne was convicted of a string of violent crimes, including the callous murders of a gas station employee and a liquor store owner, and was sentenced to death, and she obtained the first “hate-crime” murder conviction in Los Angeles County.

I had a chance to interview Jackie Sunday afternoon sitting across the table in her kitchen banging away on my laptop and hoping the tape recorder captured everything she said because it was very informative. I hope you enjoy the interview. May the prosecution call its witness!

What is your educational and legal background?

I went to Dorsey High School in Los Angeles, so I am a Los Angeles native. I went to undergraduate at U.C. Irvine and majored in psychology, and I earned my J.D. from USC law school. I decided to apply to law school in my junior year when I took a class called the Introduction to the Study of Law. The class had guest speakers and one of the speakers was a young African-American lawyer named Irma Brown, who is now a judge. Listening to her speak about how exciting it was being in a courtroom was a major reason why I decided to apply to law school.

What was it about the excitement that made you think about becoming a lawyer?

Irma expressed such enthusiasm in the way she talked about her courtroom victories. It is hard for me to explain, but looking at her, at how young she was, maybe five or six years older than me, I thought if she could be successful at being a lawyer, then so could I. I listened to her talk about the thrill and excitement of being in the courtroom, and actually sat in a courtroom in Santa Ana and observed cases as part of the course. I remember thinking I felt very comfortable in a courtroom, very at home there, and was interested in everything that went on. It was almost like watching a theater, if you will. Each person who addressed the judge changed the atmosphere in the courtroom. And I thought, this is something I can be good at.

What led you to want to become a prosecutor?

I would love to say it was some big calling, but I ended up in the DA’s office really just following a friend.

Esquisite Paths: Sheila Boston

I wanted to write this column to tap into the sisterhood we all share and the special sorority we all join when we get a JD. I hope that the women I introduce to you in this column will serve as legal role models and virtual mentors – and I think that my first subject is a fantastic start! You’ll have to excuse me - during interviews I teeter between the roles of interested colleague, young attorney, adoring fan and nosey neighbor. 

When deciding who I would interview first for this column, I knew I wanted to speak with Sheila Boston. She is an accomplished attorney, a black woman partner at her law firm and most importantly for me – she is a fabulous person.  Sheila is the type of person whose energy lifts your spirit when you are in her presence. In addition to wanting to be like her, you want to hang out with her.

From our conversation, I learned that we have much in common: a love of dancing, adoration and respect for our fathers and a need to give back. Sheila had strong
points on mentoring: such as finding value in mentors both within the legal profession and externally, and not solely focusing on having mentors that look like you. Sheila also discusses her strategies to find the ever so elusive “balance”. I hope that gaining some insight into how she did it will help you figure out, redefine or just appreciate your own paths. Enjoy!

What Men Missed When They Missed The Catalyst Release of “Women of Color in US Law Firms”

By Brande Stellings, J.D. and Jennifer Kohler

It was easy to talk to the men in the audience at the Catalyst release event for our latest research report, Women of Color in US Law Firms. There were only two. In retrospect, while the event was successful – bringing together a wide array of practitioners from the government, public, and private sector – almost all the attendees were women. Something is wrong with that picture.

Undoubtedly, these women are well-positioned to make change; many are senior partners and others hold influential positions within local government. Nevertheless, considering that men hold 82% of the partnership positions at law firms, it was discouraging not to see more men attending an event designed to provide insight into the experiences of one quarter of their firm’s women associates. And frankly, it wasn’t smart business.

We know women of color are entering and graduating from law schools in increasing numbers, but more than 75% of women of color associates leave their firms by their fifth year. Previous Catalyst research has demonstrated that when a lawyer leaves a firm, the cost to the employer is equal to, or even greater than, their total annual salary and benefits.

We also know that:

• Clients are diverse and are pressing law firms to provide teams which better reflect this diversity.

Catalyst Releases Women of Color in U.S. Law Firms Report - Quantifying Gaps in Perception & Experience

Catalyst released it's study of Women of Color in Law Firms today. The report represents a major undertaking, and I recommend reading it yourself, but I will attempt to summarize the key points.

First the problem:

...more than 75 percent of women of color associates leave their firms by their fifth year of practice, and nearly 86 percent leave before their seventh year. Those who leave often report experiencing institutional discrimination and unwanted and/or unfair critical attention, which combine to create an exclusionary and challenging workplace.5 Other research confirms that nearly two-thirds (64.4 percent) of women of color associates left their employers within 55 months compared to just over half (54.9 percent) of women overall.

Catalyst's argument is that this attrition is an inefficient waste of resources for firms, who spend significant sums recruiting and training young attorneys. This is not a new argument, but it's an effective one to a point.  I believe at some point the cost of achieving true gender and racial equity in firms will exceed the price of disproportionate attrition, though the attrition rates of women of color from large firms is so severe that's not an immediate concern. 

After the jump: the results of Catalyst's survey of associates and partner's in the country's 25 most profitable firms.