Female litigators should be given equal opportunities to gain trial experience, ABA House urges
New York State Bar Association President Sharon Stern Gerstman discussing Resolution 10A before the ABA House of Delegates at the midyear meeting. Photo from Twitter.
Law firms, corporate clients, general counsel and the judiciary should all be taking steps to provide women with more opportunities to gain trial and courtroom experience, the ABA House of Delegates resolved Monday.
In a measure prompted by a New York State Bar Association report revealing that women participate in court at lower rates than men, Resolution 10A was passed overwhelmingly in a voice vote at the ABA Midyear Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
The resolution, which was proposed by the New York State Bar Association, calls for law firms to develop initiatives to provide female lawyers with opportunities to gain trial and courtroom experience; for judges to “take steps to ensure that women lawyers have equal opportunities to participate in the courtroom;” and for corporate clients to ensure that women have equal participation opportunities in litigation and in alternate dispute-resolution practices.
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