Best Friends at the Bar: A Reminder of the Power of Mentoring
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 17, 2012 •Mentoring and Networking
Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on September 9, 2011.Well, here I am, back after a wonderful summer respite full of time with old friends, new friends and family. I have survived an earthquake, a hurricane and flash floods here on the East Coast, and I am renewed and ready to concentrate again on my projects for young women lawyers.There are lots of new things on the horizon for me, like a newly-designed web site, a new book, a new research assistant, and an exciting new schedule for the coming work/school year. Don’t forget…
Best Friends at the Bar: Be Nice To Everyone In The Courthouse
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 17, 2012 •Firms and the Private Sector
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog. Be nice to everyone you meet in the courthouse. One of them may turn out to be a juror in your case! This seems particularly apropos with all of the citizen attention on juries in the aftermath of the Casey Anthony trial. But, I also have some personal experience with this.When I was a young lawyer, I had my first jury…
Best Friends at the Bar: Women Lawyers Do Not Need To Be Perfect!
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 17, 2012 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on July 18, 2011.Laura Stiller Rikleen, author of Ending the Gauntlet, Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law, has this advice for women lawyers, “Be aggressive but not strident. Be sure to look good, but do not call undue attention to what you wear. If you are a working mother, be the perfect role model while walking the tightrope between commitment…
Best Friends at the Bar: Young Women Lawyers and Peep-Toe Pumps
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Other Issues
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on June 23, 2011.I am feeling a bit frivolous today, so I think I will get on the bandwagon and discuss Peep-Toe Pumps. What is the issue you wonder—-about Peep-Toe Pumps? To ask that is to acknowledge that you skipped the summer of 2010 when law bloggers, including Viva Chen of The Careerist and David Lat of Above the Law, took shots…
Best Friends at the Bar: Good Advice For Women Lawyers Going Solo
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Choosing a Career and Landing a Job
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leadson October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on June 30, 2011.Going solo is an interesting concept and one that is gaining more popularity during these tough economic times when law firm hires are down. A new book has just been published by the American Bar Association addressing the issue after a three-year study by the ABA Commission on Women. The book is based on letters written by women lawyers…
Best Friends at the Bar: Women in Business - And Law Is a Business - Must Learn To Lean In
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Other Career Issues
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on May 26, 2011.I promised you more on Sherly Sandberg, and here it is. I might have mentioned that I admire this woman a lot, and here is more to make you understand why.Recently, Ms. Sandberg, former COO of Google and current COO of Facebook, delivered the commencement address at Barnard College, the esteemed women’s college at Columbia University. Her theme was…
Best Friends at the Bar: Young Women Lawyers - Do Not Leave Before You Leave
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Balancing Private and Professional Life
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leads on October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on May 24, 2011.I hope that you all are familiar with Sheryl Sandberg, former COO of Google and the current COO of Facebook. She also is the mother of two preschoolers, and she has identified an interesting concept that I include in my speeches to young women lawyers. Although Ms. Sandberg is not a lawyer, the concepts…
Best Friends at the Bar: Law School Exams Are Upon You. Good Luck To All Young Women Law Students.
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Other Law School Issues
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leadson October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on April 23, 2011.Here we are again with law school exams looming on the horizon. I know this is not a favorite time of year for law students—-or for their families, for that matter. As one significant other told me recently, “I always look forward to this time of year when I will be told not to talk to her or make…
Best Friends at the Bar: Young Women Lawyers Need To Exercise Self Control
By Susan Smith Blakely • March 16, 2012 •Other Career Issues
Editor's Note: Ms. JD is excited to announce that Susan Smith Blakely, author of Best Friends at the Bar, will be speaking at Ms. JD: She Leadson October 5, 2012. This post originally appeared on the Best Friends at the Bar blog on April 25, 2011.You know that I am always thinking of you young lawyers and trying to eke a lesson for you out of everything I read. Well, yesterday the fertile ground for my efforts on your behalf was church. There I was at the Easter Sunday service, and you were on my mind. Glancing at the church bulletin, I noticed some…