Women in the Law

Unemployed Lawyer Applies for 1,000 Jobs, Scores Zero Interviews

With 23 years of legal experience, Laurie-Allen Shumaker thought she would soon find another job when she was laid off in January 2009 from her position as a shopping center lawyer. But today, after applying for over 1,000 jobs—including positions as a clerk and a day care worker—Shumaker, who is…

Jul 13, 2010 10:45 PM CDT

Are We Fashion Victims? Just Say So, Interns Urge Female Lawyers

As hot weather encourages everyone to shed some clothing, it’s easier than usual for young women in law offices to become fashion victims. (Men have the advantage of a customary business dress code, and hence are less likely to stray from accepted norms.) So what’s a senior woman lawyer to…

Jul 13, 2010 10:14 PM CDT

Sotomayor Inks Book Deal Just 1 Year Into New Job on Top US Court

A year into her new job as a U.S. Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor has inked a book deal. Alfred A. Knopf is to publish a memoir focusing on her ascent from childhood the South Bronx as the daughter of Puerto Rican immigrants to the Ivy League, reports Reliable Source…

Jul 13, 2010 12:02 AM CDT

Survey Finds ‘Deep Vein of Anger’ Among Women Partners Over Law Firm Pay Gap

What is being billed as a first-of-a-kind survey of female law firm partners has revealed a “deep vein of anger” over pay disparities. “A recent Census Bureau report revealed that the median income of women lawyers is only 74 percent of that of male lawyers. Unfortunately, what starts as a…

Jul 7, 2010 9:33 PM CDT

Tipping the Scales

In the South, women have made huge strides in the state judiciaries

Jul 1, 2010 10:50 AM CDT

Man Sought for Questioning in Ex-Wife’s Slaying Is Charged with Threatening Her Lawyer

A 63-year-old security guard being sought for questioning as a person of interest in the slaying of his ex-wife over the weekend has been charged with making terroristic threats several months ago to the woman’s New Jersey divorce lawyer. A criminal complaint in the Boonton case alleges that Anthony Novellino…

Jun 25, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

Women Lawyers Need to Exude More Confidence, Federal Judge Says

Women lawyers need to exude more confidence in the courtroom, even if they have to fake it, according to a Pennsylvania federal judge. There are few differences between great male and female lawyers in the courtroom, three judges said at a program at the ABA’s Women in Law Leadership Academy…

Jun 21, 2010 10:59 AM CDT

Stabbed by Client’s Ex-Husband, Lawyer, 54, Has ‘Horrible Injuries’ But Is Recovering

A Minnesota attorney suffered “horrible injuries” but is expected to survive being stabbed a dozen times in her Fridley office a week ago, according to Anoka County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Paul Sommer. Within an hour or so, a client’s ex-husband confessed to the attack on Terri Melcher that took place a…

Jun 18, 2010 1:26 AM CDT

Law Firm Intern Worries About Reaction to Her Pricey $10K Handbag

Much of the debate about appropriate law firm wardrobes involves lawyers who dress too casually or too provocatively. But one law office intern has another concern: Is it appropriate to carry a pricey Birkin handbag to the office? The intern, who works at a big law firm in Singapore, wrote…

Jun 10, 2010 1:42 PM CDT

Partner Advises Women Law Grads to Value Adversity, Get Real About Balance

Andrews Kurth partner Kathleen Wu wishes someone would have told her at her law school graduation in 1985 to get real about work-life balance. It’s possible to have work and a family, Wu advises women law grads in a Texas Lawyer article. But there will be sacrifices. “Recent grads shouldn’t…

Jun 9, 2010 1:44 PM CDT

Major Law Firm Looks to ‘85 Broads’ for Female Attorney Empowerment

A major New Jersey-based law firm is looking to a global women’s networking group with a memorable name to help the firm’s seasoned female attorneys expand their professional contacts and influence. McCarter & English is now part of the 85 Broads community, reports the Hartford Business Journal. In a law…

Jun 4, 2010 6:05 PM CDT

Ex-Con Earns Law Degree, Hopes to Help Others Like Herself

Things didn’t look good for Lynn Burke when she got out of prison 20 years ago, after serving two years on a felony fraud conviction. Broke and the mother of four young children, she went home to find them living in squalor in a public housing project as her husband…

Jun 1, 2010 12:52 PM CDT

Solving the Work-Life Equation

Workplace flexibility + exercise and leisure + family involvement = greater satisfaction

Jun 1, 2010 9:00 AM CDT

O’Connor Confesses She Worried Five Years at Home Would Wreck Her Career

Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor had a problem when she was starting out in her legal career: Her baby sitter had quit, and she had three young children at home. O’Connor spent the next five years at home raising the children. A recent article in the New York Times magazine…

May 27, 2010 4:35 PM CDT

Sutherland Asbill to Represent Transocean in Oil Spill Litigation

Sutherland Asbill & Brennan has been tapped to handle litigation over the Gulf oil spill for Transocean Ltd., the owner of the BP oil rig that exploded. The litigation team will be headed by Rachel Clingman, who leaped to Sutherland Asbill from Fulbright & Jaworski in 2007, according to The…

May 27, 2010 2:18 PM CDT