Defending My Law Firm Job
By LAC • February 14, 2007 •Firms and the Private Sector
The other day, I was sitting with a few friends of mine. One is a 3L in law school, currently working at the public defender’s office, but the others are not in the legal profession. We were joking around about what it would be like to defend criminals, and as that discussion came to a close, one of the girls said to me, so, still planning on going into corporate law? I told her that, yes, I had a law firm job lined up. Another girl immediately began going on about how miserable her friend who currently works at a…
I am your biggest fan
By psinglet • February 14, 2007
I am not a woman. I do not no what it is like to be a female practicing or studying law; however, I do want to share my feelings with my female counterparts. There is something about me that she needs to know. On the surface, she and I have nothing in common. She and her friends have the option of putting their hair up or leaving it down. I have one style—bald. They have the choice of wearing the skirt suit or the pant suit. I have always chosen the latter. During finals few of them chose to shave…
Because We Can
By Anonymous • February 11, 2007 •Careers, Firms and the Private Sector
So often the question is asked- why do so many women leave big law firms in droves? Why don’t they stick around and make partner? Are they being forced out? The answer to that question seems like a simple yes when we look at the numbers. Why else would women be leaving at these rates from prestigious high-paying jobs? After considering this, however, I came to a different conclusion. Maybe women don’t leave law firms because we have to- maybe we leave because we can. Let’s face it- BigLaw is known for being its high salaries- but also its ridiculous…
Adjudication Without Representation? Panel Discusses High Court’s Clerks
By Mack Tastic • February 07, 2007 •Internships and Clerkships
Diversity among the Supreme Court’s clerks was the subject of a panel recently at New York University School of Law. Inspired by an article that appeared at the start of this year’s term (Linda Greenhouse, Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices’ Clerks, N.Y. TIMES, Aug. 30, 2006, at A3), students in Law Women, the Latino Law Students Association, and the South Asian Law Student Association, with the support of the Coalition for Legal Recruiting, decided to put together a night to address diversity on the Court. The panel featured five former Supreme Court clerks: Professor Cristina Rodríguez (Justice O’Connor), Professor Rachel…
Sexy Legal Advertising
By Yes, Virginia • February 06, 2007 •Women and Law in the Media
By a 2L at NYU School of Law Back in November, a minor controversy erupted in Boston over an ad placed by Jiwani, a maker of custom-tailored suits, in the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly (here is a link through Abovethelaw.com to the picture Is this ad in the same vein as the Clinique ‘cum’ shot discussed by Frank Herbert in the New York Times (see his October 16, 2006 editorial “Why Aren't We Shocked?” discussing wide-spread misogyny in our society)? Is the woman in this ad a mere sexual plaything? That is the easy argument—just survey the obvious signs: she is…
First Women: Barbara Babcock
By Barbara Babcock • February 06, 2007 •First Women
Editor's Note: As part of Ms. JD's 5th Birthday celebration, we'll be looking back at our favorite posts over the years.From the very beginning, Professor Barbara Babcock was a champion for Ms. JD, serving in vital roles at the first two annual conferences and providing guidance to Ms. JD's Founders. It is with great pleasure we republish her guest post from 2007. I am honored to be the first of the first women to speak in this space. My major first was professor at Stanford Law School—which has led in turn to associate firsts (to gain tenure, hold an endowed chair,…
First Women: Dorothy W. Nelson
By Judge Dorothy Nelson • February 06, 2007 •First Women
It is an honor to participate in the “First Women Lawyers” series of Ms. JD. I am particularly happy to do so in the company of Professor Barbara Babcock, one of the most admired and distinguished members of our profession. She is a marvelous mentor to her female law students, many of whom I have hired as my law clerks. Like Professor Babcock, I was the first woman faculty member of the law school that hired me-the University of Southern California. At that time (1957), I decided to insert into the curriculum something that had not been taught but was…
First Women: Shirley Hufstedler
By Shirley Hufstedler • February 06, 2007 •First Women
The law is the true embodiment of everything that’s excellent. It has no kind of fault or flaw and I, my lords, embody the law. Someday a better singing commercial for the legal profession may be composed,but so far none has topped Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe written more than one hundred years ago. The British audience at the premiere probably tittered appreciatively. Today’s audience would probably be much less amused because lawyers and judges are even less popular these days, and litigation is more dreaded. Of course dissatisfaction with lawyers and legal systems are not new. That grumbling was old…
Balancing Work and Family
By Dahlia Lithwick • February 06, 2007 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
An acquaintance stopped me one afternoon last week, as I was picking my three-year-old son, Coby, from camp. “Great piece in the Post last Sunday,” he enthused. “I thought you did a really smart job on that one.” Almost as an afterthought, he added: “Imagine what your career would look like if you didn’t have small kids!” I must have looked stricken because he added, “I just mean, you know, you spend so many hours with them. If you were a sixty year old man . . . with nothing to do all day but write . . . .you’d…