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What are your favorite blawgs?
By Anna Nelson • January 21, 2008 •Other Issues
What are your favorite blawgs? Right now Ms. JD's blogroll is pretty short. We've got links to a handful of organizations that share missions similar to ours: the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and NAWL, the National Association of Women Lawyers (promoting women in law), Damsels in Success (promoting women in any profession), and the Project for Attorney Retention and Law Students Building a Better Legal Profession (promoting work/life balance).We've also got links to a couple of litigation projects that support women: the ACLU Women's Rights Project and Legal Momentum (which is affiliated with NOW, the National Organization…
Happy Holidays!
By Anna Nelson • December 26, 2007 •Other Issues
We're on break for a few days--hope you're enjoying the holidays, too! Regular updates will resume January 2nd.
Is the Supreme Court Biased Against Women Lawyers?
By sintecho • November 15, 2007 •Other Issues
I recently came across this study, released earlier this year by three law professors--Kaheny, Sarver, and Szmer--which concludes that "Supreme Court justices are less likely to support litigants represented by women." Their research, even after controlling for potentially biasing variables like lawyers' prior experience and clerkship background, found that "as the proportion of women attorneys on the petitioner’s side increases relative to that of the respondent, the likelihood of a justice making a pro-petitioner decision decreases. Substantively, the larger role women attorneys play in constructing arguments, the less likely they are to convince the justices to side with their client."…
Can you take a compliment?
By lawblogger • November 06, 2007 •Other Issues
I’ve noticed that I really can’t. Professionally, I seem to demean myself a lot by refusing to accept compliments and by trying to make other people feel more comfortable around me by pretending that I’m not really that good at anything. It's not that I don't think I'm good at anything, it's more that 1) don't want to be seen as a braggart or as someone with a huge ego and 2) my socialized impulse always seems to be brushing off compliments rather than accepting them. I notice that a lot of other women behave similarly, either reflecting a compliment…
Men, Ms. JD, and the Inevitable One-liner
By jessie kornberg • October 13, 2007 •Other Issues
Editor's Note: As part of Ms. JD's 5th Birthday celebration, we'll be looking back at our favorite posts over the years.Why is it that every time I tell a man about Ms. JD the response is always something along the lines of: "Oh yea I've been thinking about starting a support group for mysoginists" or "Are you planning an upgrade to Mrs. JD"? Seriously, after a year with the organization I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten a sincere, rather than dismissive, reaction. It's not just that the individual jokes themselves are not particularly clever…
A True Juggler
By ptlawmom • October 08, 2007 •Other Issues
Kim Klein is the kind of woman many of us only hope we can emulate one day. A non-traditional law student and mother to a teenager, Kim found out shortly before finals last semester that she has breast cancer. She underwent radiation and chemo this summer and now, a month into the fall semester and attending classes regularly, she is 75% of the way through her treatment. She's a great example to all of us of how to balance it all. Kim has been nominated for a $10,000 scholarship because of her fantastic blog detailing her journey. Please visit Kim's…
Impossible Expectations Apparently Doom Women to Unhappiness
By sintecho • October 03, 2007 •Other Issues
As lawyers, we are already 3.6 times more likely to suffer from a major depressive disorder than non-lawyers with similar socio-demographic traits. As women, it now appears we are more likely to be unhappy due to our membership in that demographic as well. Recent research findings suggest that women, who reported being happier than men in the 1970s, are now less happy than men. Two research papers by Alan Krueger and Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers have sparked a flurry of speculative articles (mostly by men) on the disparity. Steven Levitt of Freakonomics fame had 4 hypotheses for the gap:1.…
Playing “the gender card” in the courtroom
By Carol Simpson • July 30, 2007 •Other Issues
This past week I attended court for the first time in my three years in law school. Actually attending a real court has not been part of any of my courses to date, so this was an event that was particularly interesting. I was attending an evidentiary hearing in federal court, after having written the analysis of an important change of facts in the case. The hearing was before a female judge, and both the plaintiffs’ attorneys are female, as well. When the defendant’s attorneys arrived, there were two men and one woman. It was obvious that their plan was…
Cracks in the Glass Ceiling
By Rigel S. Massaro • June 24, 2007 •Other Issues
Each of us brings to our job, whatever it is, our lifetime of experience and our values.Sandra Day O'ConnorIf we are to achieve a richer culture--one rich in contrasting values--we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.Margaret MeadLast month I completed my first year of law school at the University of Arizona, where 50% + of the student body is female and all of our deans are women. I am currently interning at Consumers Union, where the 90% of…