Dean of Yale Law School condemns ‘despicable’ sexist attacks on students
By Harold Hongju Koh • March 09, 2007 •Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
On March 7, The Washington Post ran a story about several of our students who have been personally targeted on an internet message board. While this message board purports to be about law school and law school admissions, it contains numerous sexist, racist, homophobic and other derogatory comments by anonymous posters. Some of these comments include the names and personal information of our students and other individuals, along with many false and hurtful assertions. The Law School and the University are deeply concerned about this situation and have been working on a variety of fronts to try to assist our…
A shift in focus from the “opt-out” to the “opt-in”
By Kalo Kagathia • March 09, 2007 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
Both Lawjobs.com (via law.com) and NYLawyer.com have recently reported new programs at Hastings and Pace University which are designed to bridge the gap and ease re-entry into the legal market for professionals who have taken a year or more off of work. Not surprisingly, most of the individuals enrolling in such programs are women who have taken time off to have/raise kids. Considering women remain the primary caregivers when it comes to the children in most families, and in the grand scheme of things - this whole "break" of sorts is a fairly new concept as our society slowly evolves…
Role Models and Moms Judging Moms
By Peg Johnston • March 07, 2007 •Other Career Issues
There is a post and string of comments on www.wsj.com/juggle about working moms and whether or not they are role models for their children. While the post is insightful it really throws the question open to the readers. The comments are the nitty gritty of that discussion. Here is my take. Moms choose to work for a variety of reasons. For some it is necessity in the sense that they need the money. For others it is more personal, more sensitive and may have to do with their need to connect with their adult colleagues, their relatively short amount of…
Profile: Judge Kim Wardlaw
By Amelia Hansen • March 07, 2007 •Guest Bloggers and Profiles of Women in the Law
Wardlaw Cut a Fast Track to Center of 9th Circuit By Amelia Hansen Daily Journal Staff Writer February 08, 2007 PASADENA - A turn of turtles inhabits Kim Wardlaw's chambers. Sparkling and vibrant, the small figurines appear on the judge's bookshelf and desk. They are unlikely visitors in a world filled with legal documents and books. "They remind me to slow down, to be thoughtful," Wardlaw said. "They remind me that everything doesn't have to be done today." In Aesop's terms, Wardlaw is certainly more hare than tortoise. Appointed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Clinton…
When Law Students Attack
By Jill Filipovic • March 07, 2007 •Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination
This article in the Washington Post and this post by Ann Althouse, both of which are about students on law school message boards posting pictures and nasty comments about female law students, struck a nerve -- because I'm one of the women they're talking about, and my pictures have been posted on their site. The WaPo article is about AutoAdmit, a law school-oriented message board that is, essentially, a massive toilet of racism and sexism (not linking to the site -- google if you're interested). I've written about AutoAdmit before, when I found out that they were posting numerous pictures…
Pride & Prejudice
By jessie kornberg • March 06, 2007 •Other Issues
I think one problem with trying to gain the success and position professional men have traditionally enjoyed is possibly having to act like them. Let me explain…a reoccurring complaint I heard from older women’s rights activists and trailblazers is about the lack of credit they get from my generation (these are baby boomers—I’m Gen Y). The thing is, I am ready and willing to give credit where credit is due, but I don’t know where that is. And I don’t think that’s entirely my fault. I think successful women aren’t necessarily inclined to crow. And that means their accomplishments aren’t…
File Under: Get Pregnant, Lose Your Civil Liberties
By Jill Filipovic • March 06, 2007 •Other Issues
Ah, the things politicians will do in the name of protecting babies! Now, we all know that the term "protecting babies," when uttered by a "pro-life" individual, is usually code for "reminding women that they are simply vessels who, once occupied,* cease to possess the basic rights that non-vessels are entitled to (non-vessels being "men," otherwise known as "actual human beings")." There's the classic example of the pregnant drug addict being prosecuted after she gives birth, despite the fact that neither being a drug addict nor being pregnant is actually a crime. There's penalizing low-income women for giving birth by…
Congressional Babes
By Jill Filipovic • March 06, 2007 •Women and Law in the Media
Last week on my blog we had a short conversation about hyper-sexualized younger women, and why coming down on them is a little bit unfair. Now, the LA Times gives us this article about Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Congresswoman who is, according to the paper, is being "tested on whether her reputation will be more coquette or congresswoman." Because Lord knows the earth would shatter if she were both a female politician and a human being. This one should probably be filed under "women can't win" because, well, we can't. And this illustrates it. The fact is that most women,…
The Strategic Clerkship Application
By contemplateIT • March 05, 2007 •Internships and Clerkships
I am the first person in my immediate and extended family to attend law school. So, I had no idea that judicial clerkships existed, let alone that my application was being shaped the minute I walked into my first law school class. By the time I’d figured out what a clerkship is, that I wanted a clerkship, and what I needed to do to get one, I was well into my second year of law school and getting ready to put the actual applications together. I still managed to land a clerkship, but now I realize I could have been…