Law Students

Yale Law Women Releases Top Ten Family Friendly Firms

Posted on August 20, 2009
Yale Law Women (YLW) has announced its fourth annual Top Ten Family Friendly Firms List.The 2009 Top Ten Firms, in alphabetical order, are: Arnold & Porter Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton Covington & Burling Jenner & Block Katten Muchin Rosenman Mayer Brown Munger, Tolles & Olson Patton Boggs Sidley Austin WilmerHale ?The Top Ten List, and any discussion of family friendly policies, is even more salient in this recession than in previous years,? said Yale Law Women Chair, Noorain Khan...

Do Women Create Their Own Glass Ceiling?

Posted on August 19, 2009
According to a new study, administered at the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management, women have imposed their own glass ceiling, reports MSNBC.  The study shows that female managers are more than three times more likely to underrate their bosses' opinions of their job performance, in contrast with men holding similar management positions...

The First Decent Argument I've Heard for Why (1L) Grades Should Matter As Much As They Do

Posted on August 19, 2009
I've always been skeptical of the emphasis placed on first year grades. And essentially I still am, but I've now heard the first argument that convinced me they might actually be a proxy for future success in the profession. Here's what happened: I was having lunch with a judge and we were talking about how short a window new associates get in which to prove themselves at law firms...

Hidden Mindsets, Storytelling, and the Advancement of Women Lawyers

Posted on August 19, 2009
One reason that it?s so difficult for women lawyers to advance is the way the stories of their accomplishments are told.  I chose the word ?tell? over the word ?report? because everyone wears blinders when observing and forming judgments about the world...

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Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending August 14, 2009

Posted on August 14, 2009
Female Attorneys May Have the Edge in Yaz Suits Women Lawyers Work the GFC Women Lawyers in the City The Stress of Being a Female Lawyer Hamas Orders Women Lawyers to Wear Headscarves Tribute: Lawyer Helvia Sipila Set UN Agenda on Women Women Lawyers Leaving Profession During Looming Shortages: B...

When is My "Education" No Longer First on My Resume?

Posted on August 14, 2009
I'm pretty sure that every single person in my law school's public interest program has a resume that looks just like mine. Garamond size 11, anyone?? We all shared a career counselor and we all got the same format, font, and tone. I don't mind. Except that I haven't been in law school for a couple years now, and I'm wondering when I'm supposed to take a fresh approach...

Queen Bee Jealousy and 'Vision Thing': The Obstacles Faced by Female Bosses

Posted on August 12, 2009
Several recent articles and reports found in a variety of law and business publications have dealt with the issue of how women are perceived in the legal profession by both their female and male colleagues.  Specific focus has been given to the challenges faced by women in managerial roles...

Find Yourself a Living Metaphor

Posted on August 12, 2009
Ed. note: Susan Letterman White is a legal industry consultant. Prior to consulting, Susan managed her own solo practice while raising children and then joined Hepburn, Willcox, Hamilton, & Putnam in Philadelphia as an associate, became a partner, and then the managing partner...

Working Mother Magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers Rates the Top 50 Law Firms for Women

Posted on August 11, 2009
Working Mother Magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers recently released its list of the top 50 law firms for women.  The firms "were evaluated on their workforce profile, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, and their advancement and retention of women, among other factors...

Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them: Featuring Dana Brody-Brown of Lewis and Roca LLP

Posted on August 09, 2009
Bio for this week's superwoman JD: Ms. Brody-Brown is a partner in the firm?s Intellectual Property practice group. Her work is focused in the areas of trademark counseling and prosecution, including trademark audits, portfolio analysis and strategic counseling, selection and searching of trademarks, domestic and worldwide registration and enforcement, domain name issues, and licensing...

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending August 7, 2009

Posted on August 07, 2009
At Public Schools, Tuition Jumps Sharply Do Women Make Better Bosses? Hamas Imposes Islamic Dress Code for Women Civil Servants Attorney Emily Taube Touts Influences, Lessons Learned in Law Practice Here Comes My Baby - Learning About Being a Working Mom A Judge's Game - Profile of Judge Diane E...

Will flextime get you laid off?

Posted on August 04, 2009
There was a provocative article on Forbes.com recently, titled "Will Flextime Set You Up to Be Laid Off?"  In it, the author, Tara Weiss, discusses anecdotal evidence that working a flex schedule may, in fact, put you at the top of the layoff list...

Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them: Featuring Michelle Campbell of AlixPartners

Posted on August 01, 2009
Bio for this week's Superwoman JD: Michelle Campbell leads the strategic communications practice at AlixPartners, LLP, a global firm of senior business and consulting professionals that specializes in improving corporate financial and operational performance, executing corporate turnarounds and providing litigation consulting and forensic accounting services when it really matters ? in urgent, high-impact situations...

Ms. JD Weekly Roudup: Week Ending July 30, 2009

Posted on July 31, 2009
Women on the Verge of the Law: From Anita Hill to Sonia Sotomayor What?s the point of judicial power if you don?t have Girl Power? Law Firm Gender Diversity Efforts Not Enough to Ensure Meaningful Inclusion of Women of Color No Doubts: Women are Better Managers MCCA 2009 Survey of Fortune 500 Women General Counsel Sotomayor's Judiciary Vote in Haiku by Dahlia Lithwick No Surprise, Mid-Level Associate Morale Down in Many Big Firms    read more

Yes We Can: Marianne Short and Profound Change at Dorsey & Whitney

Posted on July 30, 2009
Just came across A Conversation with Marianne Short, Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney over at Adam Smith Esq. The site reached out to Marianne when Dorsey was named to Working Mother Magazine's Best Law Firms for Women 2007, because the firm was the only AmLaw 100 member on the list that was managed by a woman...

When one woman leaves

Posted on July 28, 2009
I've got to vent a little...A few weeks ago a female senior associate left my firm to go work for a judge.  She is one of the few associates that has left voluntarily since I've been here.  She is amazing - mother of 2, great attorney, part-time but cleary on track for partnership...

Elizabeth Wurtzel on Bitter Lawyer: Law is a Refuge for Worriers

Posted on July 27, 2009
Over at Bitter Lawyer there's a great two part interview with Elizabeth Wurtzel. After the success of Prozac Nation, Wurtzel went on to attend Yale Law ('08) and talk her way into a part-time gig at Boies, Schiller. The interview is fun because Wurtzel offers a relatively unedited view into what life at a BigLaw firm is like for snarky young woman...

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending July 24, 2009

Posted on July 24, 2009
Women, Minority Lawyers See More Court Bias Than Men Do, Report Says Why More Than 75% of Minority Female Lawyers Leave Law Firms Within 5 Years Women Lawyers Leaving Profession During Looming Shortage: B.C. Law Society Female Minority Lawyers Don't Stay at US Law Firms Women Leaving Legal Practice: Law Society Women Failing To Crack Law's Glass Ceiling Loretta Tuell Breaks Barriers in Legal Profession Sen...

Catalyst Releases Women of Color in U.S. Law Firms Report - Quantifying Gaps in Perception & Experience

Posted on July 21, 2009
Catalyst released it's study of Women of Color in Law Firms today. The report represents a major undertaking, and I recommend reading it yourself, but I will attempt to summarize the key points. First the problem: ...more than 75 percent of women of color associates leave their firms by their fifth year of practice, and nearly 86 percent leave before their seventh year...

"Whatever You Do Don't Get Pregnant"

Posted on July 20, 2009
Over the years I've grown accustomed to unsolicited advice from professional women. It has been my experience that women feel empowered to tell one another what they should be doing with their lives to a much greater extent than men (at least with respect to younger women)...

Jack Welch is Wrong

Posted on July 20, 2009
The Internet has been abuzz for a week over Jack Welch's comments that women can't have it all.   Janet Bangall of The Gazette goes straight to the Forbes magazine 2008 list of the World's 100 Most Powerful Women to find out how wrong Welch is. Sure, she points out, the woman who ranks 1st on the list, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, doesn't have any children...

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending July 17, 2009

Posted on July 17, 2009
Why Women Are More Likely to Get Hired Than Men: The Dirty Truth About Law Firm Hiring Practices Temple Dean Testifies for Sotomayor Will We Ever Get Tired of Talking About Work/Life Balance? Arkansas Attorney General McDaniel Testifies at Judge Sotomayor's Confirmation Hearings The Place of Women on the Court Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor Answers GOP Critics on Prior Remarks Studies Show Women of Color Struggle to Rise in Law Firms Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione's Tiffany Walker Wins Scholarship Lawyer Anita Pryor Contributes to Book on Women in Law 'Reaching the Bar' Minority Lawyer Associations Form With Eyes on Diverse Judiciary read more

Why the Supreme Court Needs a "Critical Mass" of Women

Posted on July 13, 2009
Vanity Fair conributing editor Dee Dee Myers thinks the Supreme Court needs more than just another woman: what it needs is a critical mass. Critical mass isn?t a static number, nor is it an argument that there should be an equal number of men and women in every room...

Ms. JD Weekly Roundup: Week Ending July 10, 2009

Posted on July 10, 2009
Quinn Emanuel's Susan Estrich Redefines Multitasking Witness List for Sotomayor Has a Few Surprises Am Law Litigator of the Week: Dianne Elderkin of Woodstock Washburn Multicultural Women Attorneys Have a New Guide National Association of Women Lawyers Issues Evaluation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor for the Position of Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Younger Women, Older Men Dominate Professions The Dorothy Problem: Are Women at Law Firms too Passive? Firefighter to Testify Against Sotomayor Lack of Self-Promotion Hurts Women in Large Law Firms Martin County Attorney Leslie M...

SuperWomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them: Featuring Kelly Hoey of New York City

Posted on July 10, 2009
Bio for this week's Superwoman JD: Kelly Hoey is currently the manager of alumni programs at White & Case.  In that position, Ms. Hoey works closely with the Firm's leadership (as well as alumni) in the development of alumni relations strategy, social networking initiatives and programming for the benefit of alumni...

Scaling Back Career for Baby

Posted on July 09, 2009
In a recent post on her New York Times' Motherlode blog, Lisa Belkin turned a question she received over to her readers. Here's a snippet of Anna's letter to the readers: I used to secretly look down on stay-at-home moms. I?m not proud of being so judgmental, but opting out seemed like the easy road to me, an excuse to avoid the 9-to-5...

Justice Ginsburg on Sotomayor, Gender & the Court, & Roe

Posted on July 08, 2009
This week's New York Times Magazine features Emily Bazelon's interview with Justice Ginsburg. It's relatively juicy stuff, given how guarded the Justices generally are. Ginsburg talks about Judge Sotomayor, feeling alone - even ignored - at conference, and how she thinks precedents on reproductive rights and discrimination should and will change...

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" - Women's Failure to Self-Promote Helps Keep Firm Glass Ceilings Intact

Posted on July 08, 2009
I always think Pat Gillette's assessment of the problems facing women in the profession hits the nail on the head. Her AmLaw Daily piece on self-promotion skills is no exception. After identifying external factors, like unconscios bias, that hinder women's advancement in law firm hierarachies, Gillette points the finger at women as well, arguing that a failure to effectively take credit when it's due and ask for advancement when it's available also stops women from excelling within firm structures...

A Plum Opportunity in a Down Economy: ED's Post Open at UT's CWIL

Posted on July 06, 2009
The recently launched Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin is looking for a new Executive Director. The Center seems like a pretty amazing place to work. Not only are they the first of their kind, the job is a straight path to academia through a non-traditional route, not to mention an opportunity to work with a group of alumnae founders that's hard to beat...

Is Losing Lockstep a Step Backwards for Women?

Posted on July 06, 2009
Many firms such as DLA Piper, Howrey, and Orrick are moving away from or re-examining  a lockstep program of training and compensation. The lockstep program is a training and compensation program based objectively on the number of years served.  While the lockstep program may not be perfect, it was an objective way to ensure that the base level for associates was fair...

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