Best Friends at the Bar

What is Success for Young Women Lawyers?

Success has been on my mind a lot recently.  As so many of you know, the February bar exam results came out recently in jurisdictions across the country.  It is such an intimidating process to go on-line to get the good or bad news, but, in addition, the on-line messages are often very insensitive and lacking.  Frankly, I find some of them offensive.

Best Friends at the Bar

A Belated Mother's Day Message to ALL Young Women Lawyers

I fell a little behind on Mother's Day this year---but for good reasons.  I spent the time surrounding Mother's Day, first, with my very senior mother---I am forbidden to tell you how senior but think in batches of 100!---and, second, with my daughter selecting the bridesmaids dresses for her October wedding that is fast approaching AND celebrating yet another bar passing. Yes, two behind her, and now she can relax and enjoy the very fast approaching wedding---I think I said that, but, somehow, I cannot get the very very fast approaching wedding out of my mind these days!

So, even though I missed reaching out to you closer to Mother's Day, I think you would agree that I celebrated the "big day' in style.  Spending time with my mother and with my daughter are gifts at this time in my life especially, and I will take any and all opportunities.

Best Friends at the Bar: Join Me at the 2013 Georgetown Law Women's Forum

It is becoming very clear that women are an unstoppable force, which will be changing the face of business in America and in the world in the next several decades.  The changes are already taking place and have caught the attention of commenters worldwide, including the participants and attendees at the most recent conferences of the prestigious World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  As noted at those events, the number of women world leaders and women business entrepreneurs is on the rise, and women, from large corporate C-Suite members in the developed world to small business owners in the far corners of Africa, are gaining attention.  There is still a very long way to go for parity, but the advance of women on the world stage is palpable.

So, it will be no surprise to you that there is an energetic ongoing effort to compile data about women in the workplace.  For one example, check out these recent figures from Anne Loehr, an expert in developing authentic and transformational leadership:  http://www.anneloehr.com/statistics-to-kickstart-the-rise-of....

Best Friends at the Bar: Ladies DC Features BFAB at the Annual Happy Hour

Check out the link below and the invitation to the Ladies DC event on May 28th at the A Bar featuring Best Friends at the Bar.  I will be making remarks and taking questions, and I can't wait to see you all there!

Ladies DC is a great organization for young professional women, and the leadership understands that the messages of Best Friends at the Bar are not limited to women in the law.  The messages about work-life challenges and the difficulties of working in male dominated environments extend to young women in other professional settings as well.

Thank you to Ladies DC for highlighting Best Friends at the Bar and helping young women survive and thrive in their professional lives.

https://www.facebook.com/events/451254398284308/?fref=ts

Best Friends at the Bar: Winning and Losing For Women

I hope that you have heard about the new book, Top Dog:  The Science of Winning and Losing by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.  Better yet, maybe you have read it.  From what I have read so far, the concepts are fascinating.  The book explores the differences between winning and losing performances and why are we not always up for the challenge.  It gives insight into how we all can become better competitors and uses scientific evidence and wisdom gained from politics, finance, genetics, neuroscience, psychology, military training, sports, economics, and education to help readers identify their competitive styles and make game-changing decisions on the way they compete.

Although the book addresses competition in both sexes, there is so much here for women.  With so many women in the workplace today, including in law practice, the competition is keen between men and women, but, as you will read in the book, that does not mean that men and women compete the same way.  They don't.

Win $1,000! Share Your Vision of Equity In The Legal Professsion!

The ABA Gender Equity Task Force needs your voice and your vision!

What is your vision of equity in the legal profession? We want to know!

Based on different backgrounds and experiences, everyone has a different view of equity and what it means to the profession.  Women, men, Latinos, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Lesbians, Gays, lawyers with disabilities . . . everyone has a different lens in which to view “equity”. 

To try and capture a range of those views, the ABA Gender Equity Task Force is hosting a contest on Twitter to encourage the discussion and exchange of ideas on equity in the law.  Participants are asked to tweet and complete this sentence “My vision of equity in the legal profession is . . .”.

A “word cloud” will be created using the words that are submitted for the contest.  The word cloud will be used on the website and as part of the ABA’s Day of the Woman imagery at the Annual Meeting in August.

There is a prize . . . a $1,000 Visa Gift card.  The contest runs from April 9, 2013 to August 9, 2013. 

To participate go to: http://aba.promo.eprize.com/virtualsymposium/

Ms. JD Invites You To Click Your Heels For Gender Equity!

The ABA Gender Equity Task Force needs your participation and promotion of our virtual march for gender equity. 

Participating is as simple as clicking your heels three times. 

1. Click on this link to the website. 

2. Click the vote button next to the red shoes.

3. Click the submit button.  Then you have “Clicked” your heels for gender equity. 

Why is this important and what is the point?

The visual of hundreds of thousands of people descending on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and the sea of people coming together for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963 has become an iconic representation of people standing in concert to effect change.  While nothing can ever replace the historic transcendence of that day, in this new millennium a virtual voice carries the same power and ability to effect change as a physical presence. 

Challenge from the Top—Obama, Biden Push Business Community to Embrace Military Spouses

By Reda Hicks, April 30, 2013

Every Administration’s First and Second Ladies come to the job with specific issues they want to address, and the current First and Second Lady are no exception. For the past two years, Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden have been laser-focused on just such an issue—one they say calls for an “all-hands-on-deck” approach. MSJDN couldn’t agree more.

Today, Vice President Biden, Dr. Biden, President Obama and Michelle Obama held a press conference for The Pentagon Channel to talk about Joining Forces, the White House’s veterans and military spouses hiring initiative. In attendance were members of the Administration and Joining Forces, representatives from some of the major business partners involved in Joining Forces, and a number of military spouses and veterans.

Best Friends at the Bar: Remembering My Dad

I cannot let April 2013 pass without remembering the person who had the most influence on me in choosing a career in the law.  That person was my father, now deceased, who was the best role model I ever could have had of an ethical, dedicated, empathetic and effective lawyer.  My books are dedicated to him, and he is part of everything that I do in Best Friends at the Bar.  So, he not only affects me, but he affects you, my readers, and, for that, I consider you to be fortunate.

My Dad, Rex M. Smith, would have been 100 years old this month.  Born in April 1913, he lived for almost 90 years, and he left big shoes to fill for those who came behind him.  When he retired, after 50 years of practice, his professional colleagues, lawyers and judges, came from long distances to attend the bar association tribute to him.  Although he had started as a sole practitioner during the Great Depression, when employment options were limited, over time he became a major influence in banking and financial services in his state of Wisconsin and the Midwest.  However, no matter how successful he became, he never forgot who he was and how he got his start.  He could be developing a sophisticated argument for a case in federal bankruptcy court at the same time that he was administering pro bono legal services to those in need.  Truly, he was a remarkable man, who kept it all in perspective.

Tax Credits for Milspouses First Step to Soothe Licensing Woes

By MSJDN Communications Director Lori Volkman

As a Navy wife, Judy Brown is no stranger to self-sacrifice, family separation, and the flexibility required for constant relocations that are a fixture of military life. Yet having to give up her career as a Dental Assistant ranks pretty high on her list of military-induced heartaches. After enduring licensing transfers from Virginia, Texas, and Hawaii, the insulting salaries and limited positions offered by employers failing to recognize skills she acquired in other states was finally too much. When her husband was transferred back to Hawaii, she couldn’t justify going through it all again. After only 14 years in the profession, she “retired” from her dream career and started looking for a new job.