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My Divorce Story and How I Survived
By Katherine Hernandez • February 08, 2020 •Issues, Mentoring and Networking, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Women and Law in the Media, Other Issues, Features, Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
People from all walks of life have that longing of being attached to someone and be valued for who they are as a person. Man and woman are wired differently yet the desire of being connected intimately are inherent in the deepest core of an individual. Those who are seriously in love will consider marriage to make the union official, permanent and later on form a family that makes up a society. Marriage is a sacred covenant wherein two people publicly declare their union as recognizable by law, customs and religious beliefs. It brings about euphoria but responsibilities are also…
Gendered Justice: What Women Can Do To Survive A Criminal Charge
By Katherine Hernandez • February 07, 2020 •Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, Women and Law in the Media
A Criminal charge could be everyone's nightmare, but things are just a whole lot different for women who got a criminal charge. In the United States, most crime categories arrests for women are lower than 20 percent compared to men. It's true that females have fewer arrest rates than males for all crime categories with prostitution as an exemption, this is a fact in all countries and backed up by reliable data on a historical period. That's why things are a whole lot worse if it's a female that got convicted with a criminal offense. The emotional, mental and psychological…
Women Lawyers Have a Right to Choose Their Paths
By Susan Smith Blakely • January 29, 2020 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
"Lean in" as a career strategy never has appealed to me. I have been saying that and writing about it for more than a decade. The reason is that many women do not have the resources of a Sheryl Sandberg to "lean in" and go directly to the C-Suite or the corner office. Many women cannot afford the in-home childcare with multiple caregivers and the arsenal of hired help for everything from grocery shopping, to carpool, to pick-up at the dry cleaners, to travel planning for exotic family vacations. Rather than giving many women an edge, "lean in" makes many…
5 Secrets You Didn’t Know About Personal Finance
By Joshua Holt • January 09, 2020 •Careers, Law School, Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
If you’re like me, you spent the holidays trying to stay warm, avoiding your phone, and curled up under a blanket watching a few lawyer movies, thankful that you’ve somehow avoided getting staffed on one of those must-close-by-December-31st deals. But now it’s the new year and you’re thinking that you need to “control your money, so it doesn’t control you.” You’ve mastered the basic principles of creating a budget, avoiding credit card debt, and keeping a close eye on your decreasing student loan balance. But what else can you do to master your money and build wealth and security? Here…
My Mom, the Lawyer
By Susan Smith Blakely • January 09, 2020 •Issues, Balancing Private and Professional Life
I just read a book that you all need to know about ---- to read and to recommend to all of the lawyers in your lives. By "all" I mean both the female lawyers and the male lawyers in your orbits. The book, My Mom the Lawyer, by Louisville, KY lawyer/mom Michelle Browning Coughlin, hits all the marks of my own Best Friends at the Bar project for women lawyers. Like me, Michelle and her project, Mothers Esquire, are devoted to increasing retention and promotion rates for women lawyers. And, like me, Ms. Coughlin also extends her project to male lawyers, who are parents and caregivers.…
Types of Lawyers: Deciding What Type Of Lawyer Will You Be.
By Katherine Hernandez • December 12, 2019 •Careers, Law School, Choosing a Career and Landing a Job, Issues, Other Issues
It's your first day at law school, you have a lot in mind but your pure goal is to become a successful lawyer. Law aspirants and even established lawyers may struggle to decide what area of law they want to be an expert with. Going to law schools may spark your thoughts that you will eventually work in renown and large firms practicing corporate law but the truth is that may not happen and you might be directed to another path. We need to remember that all areas of the law are important and it comes handy in different situations. Whether you…
Bringing Blue-Collar Roots to the Legal Profession - An Interview with Jennifer Frankola Crawford
By Molly Timko • December 02, 2019 •Ms. JD, Writers in Residence, Careers, Other Career Issues, Law School, Internships and Clerkships, Issues, Mentoring and Networking
For this month's post, I am thrilled to feature my fellow CUNY Law alum, Jennifer Frankola Crawford. Jennifer is an experienced attorney, arbitrator, and human rights advocate with blue-collar/working-class roots. As an arbitrator, Jennifer hears cases and renders decisions based upon New York State’s Insurance Law. In addition, Jennifer maintains an active practice in education law, representing families of children with learning disabilities and developmental delays. Further, Jennifer engages in pro bono work involving human rights issues, including handling immigration/deportation cases, and she collaborates with other lawyers to design and host CLEs. In this interview, Jennifer describes how her family's history, including her parents' immigration to the United States, influenced her career trajectory. She also offers excellent advice to first-generation…
We are the phanthoms . we are not supposed to be here
By ilise feitshans • December 01, 2019 •Ms. JD, Conference, Careers, Legal Academia, Nonprofits and the Public Interest, Politics and Government, Issues, Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Other Forms of Discrimination, •Features, Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them
We are the phanthoms.we are not supposed to be here by Dr ilise L Feitshans JD and ScM and DIR In the middle of the spring semester of second year law school when students have often successfully adjusted to the rigors of a difficult almost military austerity and discipline regime one professor chose to rattle the box of security his students had constructed so very carefully I don't know why I am here teaching constitutional law professor Roy Schotland proclaimed in his squeaky unsettling voice. None of you are going to argue before the Supreme Court The year was…
“Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket”
By Leigh Bond • November 23, 2019 •Issues, Mentoring and Networking
The best career advice -- “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” -- does not even have an author. We’ve all heard the phrase, perhaps for different contexts, including dating and investing. Yet, I most appreciate the versatile nature of the idiom when applied to my nontraditional career path and future aspirations. First, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is a sound approach when seeking opportunities. When I talk to a mentee in the middle of their job search, they often share a focus on one category of positions. As a mentor, I believe it is…