Vacation

Today is my last day at work before I start my much needed vacation. I’ll be back in the new year!

Happy holidays!

Looking back on our careers

Here’s a Law Times article reporting on two women’s accomplishments and the paths they took to get to their prestigious positions today.  Yola Grant and Sharon McIvor spoke on the theme “What Can Feminists Do with the Law?” at the University of Windsor. (Law school was great for hearing talented lawyers impart their wisdom at no cost. I don’t know much about the law schools in Canada, but maybe I should try to see if these events are free for the general public or interested practioners.)

Grant talked a little bit about the past which I found interesting:

Grant, for example, said that when she was starting out in 1986, “women students were ignored” by labour law firms. “It was considered quite legitimate to say, ‘Why should we hire you when our carpenters or electricians are not going to want to be served by a woman.’ ” She said that has now “changed tremendously” and that updated law society rules around screening for articling students, such as appropriate interview questions by firms, “have been instrumental” in doing that.

Since I don’t know any aboriginal lawyers, I thought that McIvor’s comments were quite insightful about how her upbringing directed her to a career in law:

…Sharon McIvor, an aboriginal woman from British Columbia, said she grew up facing the taunts and slurs in a majority white culture where Indians had little means to fight back. “We had no recourse, we had no way to redress it at all,” she said. “It was just a way of life.” Not surprisingly given her outspoken nature, “I came out of it fighting” and chose law to advance native and women’s rights.

I don’t have much of a career to look back on yet, but I hope that one day I can look back and see my career path more clearly.  I would like to see what motivated me and encouraged me, what made me passionate about my work, and maybe the daily grind that I go through now can be distilled into a sum that is greater than its parts.

Talking and listening to female lawyers

New Law.com article today about what law firms are doing or not doing for their female lawyers.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the lawyers themselves.  Don’t just asked to be treated right, demand it.  And if they don’t walk the talk, you should walk to greener pastures.

Civility Among Lawyers

A judge ordered court supervision for a lawyer, Thomas B. Decea of Danzig Fishman & Decea, over the course of the remaining depositions in a case after the lawyer exhibited “objectionable conduct” towards a female opposing counsel, Ms. Michelle A. Rice.

“This is not a white collar interview that you’re sitting here interviewing something with your cute little thing going on,” Decea said, according to the transcript, later telling her it was “nothing personal, dear.”

After Rice told Decea she thought his comments were indeed personal and offensive, he said: “Your skin is getting thin now.”

The Law.com article about this court order states that he also called Ms. Rice “”hon” and “girl” and asked her why she was not wearing a wedding ring.”

By the way,  Ms. Rice is a named partner of Arkin Kaplan & Rice.  I want to thank her for coming out and doing this. Many young female associates are often unsure about “going public” when things like this happen and we need the partners to help set the record straight on the type of behaviour that will not be tolerated. 

Here is a copy of the decision. 

Julia Gillard: First female deputy prime minister for Australia

Julia Gillard is a former lawyer who is going to be the deputy prime minister for Australia this week.  Since PM Kevin Rudd is going to the climate change talks, she gets the top spot for about 60 hours.  It’s news according to the Herald Sun and other publications because she’ll be the first female acting PM in Australia’s history.

Every female politician has her horror stories about life in politics, but I can’t believe some of the stuff that she has had to put up with:

“The infamous photo of her in her spotless kitchen nearly three years ago incited cruel criticism, with some claiming a childless, single woman with an empty fruit bowl could not possibly become Australia’s first female prime minister.

Yesterday Ms Gillard would not comment on NSW Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan’s slur that she was “deliberately barren”, but said she was proud of what she had accomplished.”

Deliberately barren!?!  This is exactly why women don’t go into politics.  Critics are downright nasty and rude about the tough choices women make about family and careers and no choice is safe against unfair attacks.

Lawyers and Maternity Leave

Very interesting article about maternity leave at the Financial Post website today. 

I completely understand the difficulty in deciding when to have children.  Most of the lawyers in my age group are waiting rather than having kids early in their careers.  For me personally though, I’m at a good law firm that “walks the talk.” Even so, I very highly doubt that I would ever take the full year off.  Who can afford to? 

I like the idea of having dad take time off.  I hope my husband will.  But before we get to that topic, I need to get to the point where he’s ok with us trying to have kids first!

How far have we come since Carrie Morrison, the first female solicitor, was admitted?

I was struck again by the progress that women lawyers have made in the short time that we have been permitted to practice after reading this article describing recent celebrations of the 85th anniversary of the admission of Carrie Morrison, the first female solicitor (in England/Wales).  Despite the progress, there are, of course, still worrying themes like the retention ratios.  Perhaps by the 100th anniversary all things will be equal… women will want to stay in the practice and more men will find that being a stay at home dad is their true calling…