One Quarter of Chicago Firms Meet the “Call to Action”
By Anonymous • November 13, 2008 •Firms and the Private Sector
in 2004, the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women the created the “Call to Action” project, a three year program to increase women in leadship roles. Forty-four Chicago firms signed the pledge, agreeing to foster diversity in the legal profession. Each law firm signatory's goal was to: increase the percent of its women partners by 3 percentage points from its 2004 levels by December 31, 2007. have women represented on every firm committee in the same proportion as the number of women partners at the firm by December 31, 2007. increase the number of women practice group leaders at the…
Corporette Roundup
By Anonymous • November 08, 2008 •Other Career Issues
Recent columns and polls at Corporette: Patterned Tights Dressing Professionally if You’re Busty Professional Women and Tattoos Knee-high Boots in a Professional Capacity?
Alternative Legal Jobs Clearing House and Legal Recruiter Calls: Really? In this Market?
By Anonymous • October 23, 2008 •Other Career Issues
So, the market is in a downward spiral that seems to come up for air every so often but then turn-around and head right back down. A lot of law firm associates that I know are worried. They are worried about "stealth layoffs" and about head-count reductions and generally about the fact that work is REALLY slow these days. They are worried because they have huge law school debt and are also losing thier shirts in the market turmoil. Yet, among all of this concern I received two calls from a legal recruiter yesterday looking to set me up with…
This Week at The Glass Hammer
By Anonymous • October 22, 2008 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
Two posts at The Glass Hammer caught my eye this week as being particularly pertinent to women in the legal profession. Elizabeth Harrin on Work/Life Balance in the Law: It’s not easy balancing work and a home life. Throw in clients who need you to be available at all hours, managers who don’t believe in vacations and court dates that change at the drop of a hat and you have to wonder why anyone chooses the legal profession at all... Heather Chapman on The Impact of the Economic Downturn on the Legal Industry: The financial market isn’t the only industry…
Daddy Bonus, Mommy Penalty
By Anonymous • October 20, 2008 •Firms and the Private Sector
Neil H. Buchanan's recent paper, Why Do Women Lawyers Earn Less than Men? Parenthood and Gender in a Survey of Law School Graduates, reveals a correlation between parental status and salary. Using a dataset of survey responses from University of Michigan Law School graduates from the classes of 1970 through 1996, I find that fathers tend to receive higher salaries than non-fathers (a "daddy bonus"). In addition, mothers earn less than non-mothers (a "mommy penalty"). There is also some statistical support for the inference that there is a penalty associated purely with gender (women earning less than men, independent of…
Minority Women Partners: Some Cities Fare Better Than Others
By Anonymous • October 16, 2008 •Firms and the Private Sector
Recent analysis by NALP reports that minority women continue to be dramatically underrepresented at the partnership level, making up less than 2% of partners in the nation's major law firms. The findings also reveal that, nationally, women and minorities continue to be much better represented in associate and summer associate ranks than in the partnership ranks. The analysis goes on to report that some cities fare better than others in the represetation of women in both partnerships and associateships nationwide: Analyses for the 46 cities with the most attorneys represented in the directory reveal considerable variations in these demographic measures.…
Anna Deavere Smith, Actor & Playwright, Writes One-Woman Play Celebrating Women in the Law
By Anonymous • October 15, 2008 •Women and Law in the Media
To commemorate the 2006 naming of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith wrote, and is now performing in, a one-woman play about women in the law. Smith, known for her role as Nancy McNally, the National Security Advisor on NBC's The West Wing, wanted to pay a living tribute to women in the law through this play. In order to write the play, Smith conducted interviews with a diverse group of women who have connections with the American legal system, including: attorneys, judges, political figures, activists, and convicts. The…
Inbox Full
By Anonymous • October 09, 2008 •Other Issues
I have three email accounts--a personal account, a work account, and a school account--and every weekend it is my goal to empty out the inboxes. I want to achieve email Zen by responding to every query and finishing every task.I never reach this goal. Dealing with email adds hours of extra work to my week. While I appreciate the convenience and practicality, the sheer volume often feels overwhelming and unmanageable. I waste a lot of time on email.I know I'm not alone: In a study last year, Dr Thomas Jackson of Loughborough University, England, found that it takes an average…
Catherine Murdock Dewey, One of the First Female Lawyers in Boston, Turns 100
By Anonymous • September 25, 2008 •First Women
Catherine Murdock Dewey, one of the first female lawyers in Boston, is celebrating her 100th birthday. She will be honored by the New England School of Law, in Boston, where retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, will be present the keynote address. Dewey and two of her female law school "chums" opened their own firm, Curry, Mowler and Murdock, in 1933. They wanted to try cases instead of being relegated to legal secretary or "confidential" law firm positions. In fact, when Dewey passed the written bar exam and proceeded before the…