News & Developments
A Lack of Diversity on Court of Appeals: Amazingly, the Eighth Circuit Has Had Just One Woman Judge
Minnesota's Diana Murphy is the only woman ever to have served on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Eleven judges sit on this St. Louis, Mo.-based court. Nine of these judges were appointed after Murphy, and all of them are men. Read more.
Hamas Courts Tell Women Lawyers to Cover Their Hair
A Hamas-appointed chief justice in the Gaza Strip has ordered female lawyers to wear a head scarf in court, drawing criticism from human rights groups in the territory controlled by the Islamist group. Read more.
Recent study reveals that female lawyers with masculine names may have a better shot at judgeships.
Women lawyers with masculine-sounding first names have better odds of becoming a judge than their counterparts with feminine names, at least in South Carolina, according to a study by two economics researchers.
Too Many Women Lawyers are Like Oz’s Dorothy, Partner Says
"Too many women lawyers are like Dorothy, asking for no credit, reward or recognition," Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe employment law partner Patricia Gillette writes, “And thus, no one knows what she has done and no one thinks of her as a leader.”
The Waves Minority Judges Always Make
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and currently the only female justice, said that she and Justice O’Connor, who preceded her, brought a distinct perspective to the court. But Justice Ginsburg said her own influence in all sorts of cases at the justices’ conferences was uncertain: 'it isn’t until somebody else says it that everyone will focus on the point,' Ginsburg said.
Female Lawyers Stuck in the Middle
Read about findings from the Minority Law Journal’s survey of Am Law 200 and NLJ 250 firms about their minority head counts.
New Study: Female Lawyers Leave Firms Primarily to Seek Flexible Situations
Women lawyers in New Jersey are more likely to quit if their law firm does not have flexible work arrangements, and they are gravitating toward firms that do, says a new survey of women lawyers across New Jersey.
At 14 Law Firms, Partner Promotions in 2008 Didn’t Include Women
Fourteen out of 100 law firms surveyed didn’t include a single woman in their partner promotions last year, but for some the results were an aberration.
Obama signs 'Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act'
The law reverses a Supreme Court ruling that declared plaintiffs had to file wage claims within 180 days of a company's decision to pay a worker less than a counterpart doing the same work. To read more about President Obama's moving statement before he signed the act into law, click below.
Senate Nears Passage of Wage Discrimination Bill
The bill would reverse a 2007 Supreme Court holding and make clear that every one of a plaintiff’s paychecks that results from wage discrimination constitutes a new legal violation, thereby extending the 180-day limitations period.
Survey: Most Attorneys Working Part-Time Are Women
A survey by the National Association for Law Placement reveals that, although 98 percent of law offices allow attorneys to work part-time, very few lawyers do. Of that few, women are the vast majority.
Women Partners Weigh in on Chief Justice Controversy
The cause of New York’s controversy: the total absence of women from the list of candidates from whom Governor David Paterson must choose the state’s next chief judge.
Michelle Obama’s ‘Mommy’ Stamp
A recent Washington Post article reveals that no one is immune from the work-life-balance struggle, especially not soon-to-be First Lady Michelle Obama.
Female Partners Climb at 11 Firms
The Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women reported a 25-percent success rate in response to its "Call to Action" program directed toward increasing firm’s female partnership ranks. In 2005, the Alliance for Women challenged Chicago law firms to increase their number of female partners by at least three percentage points. Eleven of the 44 firms who accepted the challenge achieved that goal. While some female lawyers have criticized the Alliance’s reported results because they include women who have achieved the title of "partner" but do not have equity in their firms, others applaud the program for highlighting for firms issues of gender parity.
The Top Ten Family Friendly Firms
Yale Law Women releases their list of the Top Ten Family Friendly Firms for 2008.
The 50 Best Law Firms for Women in 2008
Working Mother has compiled their 2008 List of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women.
Being a Lawyer and Male Makes You a Top Earner, Census Report Shows
Salaries for women lawyers continue to lag behind salaries for their male counterparts, according to a recent Census Bureau report.
Allegheny County Bar Association Launches Gender Equality Initiative
The Pittsburgh Business Times reports that the Allegheny County, PA Bar Association announced the founding of its Institute for Gender Equality and has issued best practices recommendations toward leveling the pay gap and other equality issues among men and women lawyers in the Pittsburgh area.
Parenting: Mom? Lawyer? The Ambivalence Track
NOV 4, 2007—Women who have taken time off from work to become a parent are weighing their approaches as they plan to resume their careers.
Fewer Women Are Seeking Law Degrees
OCT 2, 2007—Since 2002, the percentage of women in law schools has declined each year, according to the America Bar Association. Cathy Fleming, a partner at Nixon Peabody and past president of the National Association for Women Lawyers, says a perception among young women that they have a wider array of career opportunities is one reason, but a change in work ethic is also at play. And law firms, with their reputation for punishing work hours, may have a tougher sell to college graduates. (From the National Law Journal)
Maternity Leave in the United States
SEPT 5, 2007—Paid parental leave is still not standard, even among the best U.S. employers. Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis reveals minimal coverage for working parents.
Becoming a Rainmaker
AUG 14, 2007—Christine Cartwright Baker, a partner at the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath based in Princeton, N.J., tells about the best practices of personal marketing for women attorneys, covering a range of issues from asking for referrals to getting the word out about accomplishments.
Top law firms are taking steps to counter ‘female brain drain’
AUG 24, 2007—“Top firms have taken notice of the female brain drain. And they are not alone; large corporations and other professional service firms have also noticed the disproportionate loss of female professionals and the high cost it exacts. They are losing talent as well as their investment in recruiting and training these women.”
Working Mother Lists Top 50 Law Firms
AUG 14, 2007—A new player has just entered the law-firm rankings game. Working Mother magazine, in an issue that arrived on newsstands today, has listed 50 law firms that it considers particularly attuned to the concerns of its readers.
