Women in the Law

How to be taken seriously? Recent grads who formed criminal defense firm fight ‘sweetie’ image

Being young isn’t necessarily a disadvantage, according to two criminal defense lawyers in Chicago who formed their law firm after graduating from DePaul law school last year. Katie Kizer, 26, and Amanda Graham, 25, acknowledge there are few young, female criminal defense lawyers starting their own law firms. When they…

Jun 6, 2013 10:59 AM CDT

‘Aggressive’ is not a dirty word for women rainmakers (podcast with transcript)

Should women lawyers be as aggressive–if not more aggressive–as men when it comes to business development? It depends, and much of the answer should be based on what women believe in for themselves, guest tell the ABA Journal’s Stephanie Francis Ward.

Jun 3, 2013 1:45 PM CDT

Meet 6 law firm leaders, each with a different story, each at the top of her game

Reporters’ phone calls steadily interrupted Madeline Cahill-Boley’s first days as managing partner of midsize, San Diego-based law firm Sullivan Hill Lewin Rez & Engel in 2008. And while she knew it would be a topic broached during the interviews, Cahill-Boley wasn’t prepared for the surge of questions about her gender.

Forget about plans for her firm’s future. “What is it like to be a woman in charge?” they all wanted to know.

Jun 1, 2013 10:20 AM CDT

Do women’s initiatives work?

In March 2007, when Sachnoff & Weaver merged with Reed Smith, Catherine Chaskin was a junior partner with no book of business. When the head of the women’s initiative in the firm’s Chicago office left for a job at a corporate law department, Chaskin leapt at the opportunity to lead…

Jun 1, 2013 10:10 AM CDT

Letters: Deconstructing the envelope

DECONSTRUCTING THE ENVELOPE Regarding “Virtual Law Firm Plans to Multiply Like Magic,” April, Rachel M. Zahorsky’s article about Clearspire’s nontraditional legal services model: I think this is a great idea. I experienced something similar in my third year of law school while working with the Caprock Regional Public Defender Office.…

Jun 1, 2013 9:50 AM CDT

Gender inequity in pay diminishes women’s prospects—and the law profession

On June 10, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law and declared an end to the “unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job.” That was 50 years ago. At that time, women earned 59 cents to every…

Jun 1, 2013 9:40 AM CDT

Inventor attorney finds inspiration for her successful product lines from her own life

Geneva Grainger loves drinking tea. So she developed her own tea blends that are now sold at major grocery stores. Grainger loves wearing oversized belts. So she invented a removable belt clip that can be found at national retailers. And, like many fellow Texans, Grainger loves hats. So she launched…

Jun 1, 2013 9:30 AM CDT

Ex-partner settles suit claiming ‘boys club’ hogged origination credit at Greenberg Traurig

A former partner has settled her lawsuit contending that male lawyers at Greenberg Traurig hogged origination credit, excluded women from client pitches and favored themselves in work assignments. The suit filed in December by Francine Griesing was settled for an undisclosed amount, report Reuters and the Legal Intelligencer. The would-be…

May 29, 2013 12:53 PM CDT

Fired female patent partner settles Ropes & Gray age and gender discrimination case

A fired female intellectual property partner has settled her federal employment discrimination suit against Ropes & Gray on undisclosed terms. Patricia Martone, who was 63 when she was fired by the firm in 2010, lost out on lucrative retirement benefits to which she would have been entitled at age 65…

May 17, 2013 6:20 PM CDT

Senior counsel went from law firm switchboard operator to Cravath’s first female partner

Corrected: Christine Beshar, a senior counsel at Cravath, Swaine & Moore, achieved several firsts in her lifetime. She read the law as Abraham Lincoln did, passing the New York State bar exam without going to law school. She became the first female partner at a Wall Street law firm in…

May 8, 2013 11:26 AM CDT

Secondments grow as a better-life option

Kevin Boland recently found sophisticated legal work and better work-life balance in a place that would surprise many attorneys: a temporary legal job. Last fall Boland, 54, a patent attorney who focuses on fluoropolymer technology, was looking for a position that would cut down on his two-hour-plus daily commute. He…

May 1, 2013 7:50 AM CDT

Legal reporter Nina Totenberg answers the question: When have you been the only woman in the room?

Early in her career, NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg was working in a man’s world. Totenberg recalls that era in response to the question, “When have you been the only woman in the room?” NPR reports. “When have I been the only woman in the room, are you kidding…

Apr 30, 2013 12:48 PM CDT

Top death-penalty defense lawyer says ‘our job is to provide them with a reason to live’

Ordinarily, Judy Clarke has little to say about her work on high-profile death-penalty cases. But at a Friday conference, she said it was a privilege to defend clients such as Susan Smith, who drowned her children, Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski and Jared Loughner, who killed a federal judge while killing and…

Apr 29, 2013 2:22 PM CDT

SCOTUSblog gets press credentials; eBay defamation case is dropped after bloggers turn up the heat

Last month, SCOTUSblog won a Peabody Award for excellence in electronic media–the first blog to ever do so. On Thursday, it announced that it had at long last, the Senate Press Gallery has granted its reporter Lyle Denniston a press credential. “The Supreme Court’s general practice, which we expect to…

Apr 19, 2013 1:29 PM CDT

Top 10 family friendly law firms named; part-time work is option at every surveyed firm

Five law firms have kept their spots on this year’s list of the top 10 family law firms. Yale Law Women published the list, which is based on its survey of family friendly policies and utilization among law firms in the Vault 100. The top 10, listed in alphabetical order,…

Apr 18, 2013 12:33 PM CDT