Women in the Law

Judge to end case over nude photos posted online by her husband by retiring from bench

As a 10-day hearing was set to begin Monday in a legal ethics case over nude photos of a senior Canadian judge, a lawyer for the Manitoba jurist asked that the case be dropped because her client plans to retire in May. Although the graphic photos were posted on the…

Nov 24, 2014 2:07 PM CST

Pregnant lawyer is denied trial delay in ‘tumultuous’ hearing; law partner blasts prosecutors

A pregnant lawyer who sought a delay in a federal corruption case because a “grueling” trial would be too taxing during her third trimester was turned down by a federal judge last week. The New York Times described the hearing as “tumultuous” while the New York Daily News referred to…

Nov 24, 2014 8:35 AM CST

Expectant mom is denied extra time to breast pump during February bar exam

An expectant mother who plans to take the Illinois bar exam a month after she gives birth to her child has been denied extra time to breast pump. Kristin Pagano, a California lawyer who recently moved to Illinois with her husband, plans to breastfeed her newborn. Her due date is…

Nov 20, 2014 9:19 AM CST

Attorney Alice Lee, sister of famed ‘Mockingbird’ author, dies at age 103

Alice Lee, reportedly the oldest practicing lawyer in Alabama until recently and the sister of famed author Harper Lee, died Monday after “her heart wore out,” according to a local minister. She was 103 years old. Lee, who began practice in the 1940s in their father’s law office, still was…

Nov 19, 2014 5:45 AM CST

Lawyer cites high-risk pregnancy in trial delay request; federal judge questions her travel plans

Criminal defense lawyer Deborah Misir is still waiting for an answer after citing her pregnancy in an Oct. 16 request for a delay in a federal corruption retrial scheduled for Jan. 5. Federal prosecutors have opposed Misir’s request, and U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas of Manhattan has yet to decide…

Nov 10, 2014 7:36 AM CST

Federal prosecutor is nominated to replace Eric Holder

Updated: Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch has been nominated to replace Attorney General Eric Holder. The formal announcement was made Saturday, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported. “She has spent years in the trenches as a prosecutor, aggressively fighting terrorism, financial fraud, cybercrime—all while vigorously defending civil…

Nov 7, 2014 6:00 PM CST

‘Neurotic November’ is retired judge’s latest mystery novel

Barbara Levenson defied naysayers, including her own mother, by becoming the first woman to hold public office—as a school board member—in her then-hometown of Columbus, Ohio, in the 1960s; returning to college in the 1970s, after she moved with her family to Florida; and, once she earned her law degree…

Nov 5, 2014 9:30 AM CST

‘Bad Judge’ TV show is canceled after lawyer group protests

NBC has decided to cancel the TV show Bad Judge after it garnered unimpressive ratings and a letter of protest from the Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers. The show, which first aired Oct. 6, depicted a party-loving but tough judge whose car sported a bumper sticker…

Nov 4, 2014 12:08 PM CST

NBA union's new leader called 'relentless, brilliant'

Washington, D.C., litigator Michele A. Roberts became the first female executive of a major North American professional sports union when she was selected to lead the National Basketball Players Association in July.

Roberts relishes the challenge, but she doesn't focus on any gender issues. "I'm delighted that people are delighted, and I'm pleased that we can all agree that there shouldn't be artificial barriers based on gender or race," she says. "I've tried all my life to be the best at everything I do. So being the first female executive director is no additional pressure for me."

Nov 1, 2014 6:40 AM CDT

ABA's Grit Project aims to help women advance in the profession

Alarmed by persistent evidence that women still are failing to enter the leadership ranks of the nation’s largest law firms in adequate numbers, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession has launched a project to teach female lawyers about some things they surely never studied in law school—grit and…

Nov 1, 2014 1:55 AM CDT

After courtroom tears in high-profile case, lawyer closes office for one-year sabbatical

Lawyer Cheryl Carpenter was in tears as she argued for leniency on behalf of her client, Theodore Wafer, who was convicted of second-degree murder for the shooting death of Renisha McBride, a 19-year-old woman who banged on his door last November. Wafer, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, was sentenced to at…

Oct 30, 2014 8:58 AM CDT

Women lawyers group asks NBC to cancel ‘Bad Judge,’ a show about an ‘unethical, lazy’ female jurist

The Miami-Dade chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers has asked NBC to cancel a new comedy series about a hard-drinking, hard-partying female judge—appropriately titled Bad Judge, the Miami Herald reports. “Our organization understands that Bad Judge may be intended to be hyperbole, but we nonetheless find it damaging…

Oct 23, 2014 5:57 PM CDT

Judge scolded me for bringing newborn to court after denying continuance, lawyer alleges

A Georgia solo practitioner alleges an immigration judge in Atlanta questioned her mothering skills because she brought her weeks-old daughter to court—after the judge denied her motion for a continuance. Atlanta-area lawyer Stacy Ehrisman-Mickle filed a formal complaint against Judge J. Dan Pelletier Sr. that alleges he scolded her in…

Oct 16, 2014 7:24 AM CDT

Dechert partner says she doesn’t want to ‘have it all’; she just wants what men have

If you’re a woman who wants a family and a fulfilling career, choosing the right spouse is key, says Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, a Dechert partner married Nick Clegg, the United Kingdom’s deputy prime minister. The London lawyer, who co-chairs Dechert’s international trade and government regulation practice, splits parenting and household…

Oct 7, 2014 11:35 AM CDT

Senior bin Laden aide gets life in terror case; defense argued his only crime was offensive speech

Rejecting a defense argument that a Kuwaiti cleric who served as a senior adviser to Osama bin Laden was guilty only of offensive speech, a federal judge in Manhattan on Tuesday sentenced Sulaiman Abu Ghaith to life in prison for his terrorism-support conviction earlier this year. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan…

Sep 23, 2014 1:40 PM CDT