Negotiating Pay: Preparation Is Power

Congratulations! Your job interviews at a law firm or other business have gone well, and you are fairly certain you will be offered a position. Soon you will have to negotiate your pay.

My professional expertise is in executive compensation matters, as well as employment and severance agreements and benefit plans, and I understand the importance of smart compensation negotiations.

Preparation is key — disciplined preparation and not just a few notes jotted down on the run. 

First, think about your dream agreement and write it out. Describe to yourself the terms you would like to reach with your prospective employer.

Then do some homework. Make at least 10 calls to see if you can determine the comparables for the pay in your line of work at your level. See if you can establish how the company is performing. Is it making a lot of money or counting its pennies? Be realistic about what you ask for, but do not sell yourself short. And do not provide a salary range. Respond with the lowest salary you will accept because you will not be offered more than that amount.

California Women Lawyers Annual Conference

Last Saturday, May 4th, I had the honor of attending the California Women Lawyers Annual Conference in San Francisco, California.  I am so excited to share the inspiration and wise words that I received at the conference with the fabulous Ms. JD community! The theme of 2013 was "Lifting Voices--Launching Leaders."

For the next few days, I'm going to be blogging about the highlights of the conference.  I'll tell you all about Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley's breakfast keynote about finding your voice and becoming a leader.  I'll also share tips and advice from the Rainmaking and Business Development Panel (my favorite part of the conference), with a particular focus on pointers for young attorneys.  I'm also going to blog about the importance of networking...with your peers.

I highly encourage our readers in California to get involved with California Women Lawyers.  If you want information on how to do so, please leave me a comment or email me at falleiro@ms-jd.org.

Chiu on This: To Peep or Not to Peep?

With hints of summer peeking through the San Francisco clouds, I begin to yearn for my neglected (but never forgotten) open-toed shoes.  If you are also feeling that yearning to let your toes see the light of day (please, first, get yourself a much-deserved pedicure or DIY one yourself!), you should ask yourself - Are these strappy pumps/peep toe heels/wedges/cork platforms/sandals/fill-in-the-blanks work appropriate?  Let’s break it down. (Note to readers, if you work in a very casual office (read: almost any company in SF, a startup, or maybe a tech company), this post may not apply as stringently to your toes.  BUT I encourage everyone to step up their fashion game when it comes to office attire and dress to impress always - summer included!).

How much toe is too much?

Unless your office is uber conservative (you know who you are NYC and DC associates), peep toes are generally OK for the office during warmer months.  In my personal opinion, truly strappy heels are never office appropriate.  If shoes were beds and you were Goldilocks, strappy is too much toe but peep toes are juuuuust right. 

Could MilSpouse Attorneys lead the way on work-life balance, re-entry? You bet.

When ABA President Laurel Bellows speaks about work-life balance, she does so from experience. She has practiced law for over 30 years, has four children and four grandchildren and has been a leader in her local and national bars. When her boss (Joel Bellows, who she would eventually marry and partner with) sent her on her first job, he sent her to “women's court” to represent defendants typically facing shoplifting or prostitution charges. From there, she built a reputation as a fierce advocate for her clients, whether they were working girls or CEOs, and developed a special focus on women and the law. In fact, she has made gender equity in the profession a hallmark of her ABA presidency.

All of which makes her recent comments about work-life balance and advice to those taking a career break to raise a family that much more puzzling. In a video interview with attorney Julia Williams, reprinted on the ABA Journal site, Bellows dismissed the work-life balance debate as fraudulent.

Leaving Trash Talk On The River

“The absolute WORST thing you can call a fly fisherman is a bait fisherman. If you want to turn it into fighting words, add on that she is baiting with corn. Then start running.”

I will fully admit that I am competitive when I fly fish with my Dad. Early on, we started a competition between the two of us. It is a three point competition: one point for the first fish, one point for the biggest fish, and one point for the most fish caught. The winner gets a great (tacky) little trout trophy. It gets passed back in forth between us. Actually, that’s a lie. The trout trophy has been firmly in my possession for quite a while.

When we are gearing up for a big showdown on the river, the trash talk flies. I’ll ask my dad if he remembered to pack a can of corn. (Trout LOVE corn and it makes for easy fly fishing but it is considered “cheating” on the river.) He’ll tell me that if I’m scared, I can back out of the competition any time. The trash talk doesn’t stop until I inevitably have the trout trophy safely in my possession (again).

There is a time, a place, and a way to appropriately trash talk. Dad and I always keep it lighthearted. It is never mean-spirited. I may tease him if he gets caught in a tree, but I’ll always help him get it down too.

Third Annual Law Review Diversity Survey Now Open

The 2012-2013 Law Review Diversity Survey launched on Monday, March 18, 2013! Make sure your law review or journal joins many others who are participating by using this brief online form.

Ask your editor-in-chief to complete the survey today.

For the past two years, the New York Law School Law Review and Ms. JD have reported results from an annual, nationwide survey that follows patterns of gender and minority diversity among law review membership and leadership at ABA-accredited law schools. View the full report here. Our last survey showed, among other things, that:

• Faculty diversity has a positive relationship to diversity of law review membership: the higher the percentage of full-time female faculty at a law school, the higher the percentage of female membership on its law review.
• The low percentage of women editors-in-chief may foreshadow low percentages of women in leadership in the legal profession, as this chart illustrates:

Gender Bias Against Women in the Law: Where We Are and What We Can Do About It

Join Ms. JD, the National Association of Women Lawyers, the Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law, and the CBA Alliance for the one hour Webinar: Gender Bias Against Women in the Law: Where We Are and What We Can Do About It, on April 18, 2013, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM PST.

Although women have been graduating from law school in large numbers for several decades, many fewer women than men have advanced into senior law firm positions and leadership roles. Since 2006, NAWL and the NAWL Foundation have surveyed law firms on their retention and promotion of women lawyers, and most recently on the role played by Women's Initiatives for advancing legal careers. The results offer surprises as well as recommendations for women lawyers and their firms.

NAWL, the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law, the CBA Alliance, and Ms. JD have joined together to co-sponsor a presentation on the latest research into women’s initiatives in law firms. Come learn more about this unique research, its implications for eliminating gender bias and the steps firms can take to advance women lawyers.

Making the Right Moves: Celebrate and Educate Military Spouse Attorneys

Every MilSpouseJD (attorney married to a member of our uniformed services) has uttered these seven words at least once:

“I thought I was the only one!”

We have chosen a profession structured in a way that is at odds with the military lifestyle. Our frequently changing geography means that every two or three years we begin again: a new bar, a new legal community, a new fear that we may not find work in our field—on top of the fears faced by every military spouse!  Sometimes, that means leaving behind a job and legal community we love, while other times it means saying goodbye to our families because the risk of not finding work in a new place is simply too great. Both decisions are tough. Feeling like we are doing it alone—that is even tougher.

What to Expect When You Have Absolutely No Idea What to Expect

By Tara Gaston, MSJDN Member, Writer in Residence

One of the major challenges of life as a military spouse attorney is the number of moves that can be expected in a servicemember’s career. Even better are the number of moves or separations that are totally unexpected! In any given period, a military spouse is ten times more likely to have moved across state lines than non-military spouses. While these moves come with a number of benefits, including travel and exposure to new people and environments, they are very difficult for working spouses, especially those who rely on state-issues licenses in order to engage in their profession. At the same time, there are a number of ways to prepare for the inevitable moves, while also collecting valuable experience to make you a more attractive candidate at the next duty station. 

Social Media Mavens: We're Looking for an Intern!

Do you have crazy social media skills? Is your smart phone always ready to Tweet, Pin, and Post? Do you have a passion for women helping women? If you answered yes to these questions, you might be just the person we are looking for! Ms. JD is looking for a social media intern to help us build and manage our social media outreach strategies.

What will you be doing?

As the Social Media/Community Manager intern you will help build and manage Ms. JD’s social media outreach strategies alongside Ms. JD’s President and the Communications and Marketing Committee of the Board of Directors. You’ll brainstorm and execute innovative strategies that make our community feel loved and engaged with Ms. JD. You will also be responsible for finding interesting articles and facts to post on social media outlets that increase our social media presence and create a dedicated following. Apply if you're a self-starter who enjoys lots of responsibility, wants some hands-on experience growing a non-profit, and expects to have lots of fun doing it. You’ll have lots of freedom to try new things and learn from successes and failures. While not required, it’s a bonus if you’re interested in attending law school or interested in law more generally.