SDevlin

Women of the Missouri Court:  First Event to feature the only four women who have served on the Missouri Supreme Court

In all of Missouri’s history, only four women have served on the state Supreme Court. The Women’s Law Association (WLA) at the University of Missouri School of Law hosted the first event ever to feature and honor these four women. On Wednesday November 12, 2008 Judge Ann Covington, Judge Mary Russell, Judge Patricia Breckenridge, and current Justice Laura Stith sat on a panel together at the Law School to discuss the journey women have in the legal profession and future progress. The judges spoke for over an hour to a courtroom packed with law students and professors. In all the…

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SDevlin

The Cravath Model Is Failing - Nothing New to the Bottom 80.

According to Professor William Henderson, Indiana University School of Law, and a study from Bell Laboratories, top performing associate attorneys can "evaluate problems from the viewpoint of customers and manager," take initiative, rely on more experienced coworkers, and build consensus. The study then goes on to further that these skills do not necessarily correspond to law school class rank. In fact, "researchers found no relationship between [attorney] performance and various social, psychological, and cognitive abilities. http://www.abajournal.com/weekly/cravath_model_that_created_have_and_have_not_law_grads_could_implode The ability for lower-ranking law students to become high-performing attorneys may be news to big law firms, but for those of us in the…

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SDevlin

Number 63 and Abandoned: A Rant From the Forgotten Eighty Percent

I’m not in the top twenty of my class. I’m not even in the top twenty percent of my class. In fact, by definition, the majority of my law school class is not in the top twenty percent of my class. Yet, we keep being forgotten by our professors, our deans, and perhaps most noticeably, our career services offices.How many speakers, meetings, and panels have I sat through only to find out that what they’re discussing doesn’t apply to me because I’m not in those top slots? If I’m even interviewed, I will probably not be hired by a large…

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SDevlin

Ms. Stiletto, Meet Ms. Rubber-heel

I understand the stereotypical female shoe fetish. I understand the draw to higher arches, slimmer heels, pointier toes, shinier patent leather. In a profession where office dress is often highly regulated, a woman's shoe is where she expresses both her power and her femininity. When, Ms. Stiletto, a powerful female professional, marches into a room in a 5 inch black pointy-toed stiletto, you can almost hear the click of the heels say "I am woman, hear me roar." Ms. Stiletto, I highly admire you and your shoes, but I am not one of you. I've tried, but my feet hurt…

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