Letters: Law mom shares
The December-January 2024-2025 cover of the ABA Journal.
Law mom shares
I truly appreciated the “Moms in Law” article (December-January, page 36). I had this exact conversation just this week. I could not quite pinpoint the issue with being a parent while also being a full-time attorney—a female attorney with billable requirements at that. I was talking to individuals who either never experienced postpartum or had kids. I have two small children, with one having been a preemie. I’m just over a year postpartum, and both my husband and I are full-time attorneys. Although we both have understanding work environments and work well together to accommodate each other’s schedules, it is sometimes difficult to articulate what it means to essentially have a second and a third job as soon as you get home from your first job. Weekends and holidays? Forget it.
As a working mom, I do not get the luxury of “making up the hours” I lose because of day care closures or my children’s illnesses—or even tantrums that disrupt plans to work at home. I cannot work early, stay late or work on weekends unless I sacrifice parent time, which I refuse to do. It’s difficult to explain all of this to someone who has the luxury of time and peace at home. Oh, I miss the peace. I want to be a great attorney, I want to exceed billable expectations, but I also do not want to sacrifice my family time.
The reality is that meeting those (typical) billable requirements while also being a full-time parent is next to impossible—although I tend to believe it’s just plain impossible. But no one is going to want to pay you the same for a lower billable requirement, even if you are a quality attorney. That’s just not the reality.
How do we explain this conundrum to male partners or childless partners overall? Partners who have never experienced postpartum. Everyone has responsibilities outside of work—I get that. I was once a childless attorney myself. I did not get just how hard it is to be a working parent until I had my own child at age 32. I get that I chose to have kids, but that choice should not come with sacrificing my professional dream.
—Penelope M. Quintero
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Book boost
Sitting in my office and reading my ABA Journal article “25 Books for Lawyers” (December-January, page 44) caused me to ponder how many responses it might draw. Every lawyer I ever speak with has a few books they would list if given the opportunity. Several years ago, the American Bar Association published an article in the Judges’ Journal I was privileged to write. It was about judicial biographies.
I hope that qualifies me to add a few books to your list.
• High Stakes: The Gamble for the Howard Hughes Will by Harold Rhoden: A wonderful book written by one of the attorneys in the case.
• A Civil Action by Johnathan Harr: This book was at one time used by many civil procedure classes.
• Anatomy of a Murder by Robert Traver, the pseudonym of John D. Voelker, Michigan Supreme Court justice: One of the finest courtroom novels ever written.
You will receive enough letters on this subject to fill one month’s edition. But perhaps you thought of that before you presented the article.
—Stuart Shiffman
Springfield, Illinois
Wrongful misdemeanor
Kudos for the hard work and excellent outcome obtained by law students in “No Small Matter” (October-November, page 44). Overturning a verdict—whether by a retrial, reversal on appeal or by a sealing/expungement motion—is insufficient relief for a criminal client, for the record will still be visible for anyone who looks hard enough to find it. Many but not all states have a process for a finding of factual innocence. Such a finding will result in the removal of the arrest and conviction information allowing Richard Leach to rightfully claim not only that he has no conviction, but also that he has never been arrested. Mr. Leach will have new employment opportunities and better living conditions restored. His record information will be removed from state data banks. We need to offer more diversion programs for minor crimes to hold offenders accountable while also giving them opportunities to avoid having a lifetime criminal record.
—Judge Eugene M. Hyman (retired)
Los Altos, California
The article about Richard Leach and his ongoing quest to clear his name was at the same time heartening and disturbing. Kudos to all the organizations you mentioned that are working to exonerate innocent defendants. But where were the defense attorneys when these misidentified, wrongly arrested defendants were headed to jail? The article placed responsibility on police and prosecutors, but what about the defense bar? The biggest compliment I got as a young defense attorney many years ago was when a judge told me that I was representing my indigent client—for the $100 flat fee public defenders received for misdemeanor defense—as if he had paid me $5,000. But I thought that was my job: to give each defendant the best, most zealous and most creative defense I could. More should have been written about the defense bar’s responsibility to prevent wrongful convictions in the first place.
—Bruce Macdonald
Hendersonville, North Carolina
Not everyone gets one
I am an avid reader of Bryan Garner’s articles in the ABA Journal, and my ninth grade English teacher—some 68 years ago—was a tyrant. I could not help asking myself who wrote the headline for the article “Everyone Doesn’t Get a Trophy” (October-November, page 19), which means “every person does not get a trophy,” which in turn means “no one gets a trophy.” But although the body of the article suggested that trophy-type rewards are rare in law firm practice, and maybe nonexistent, I wonder whether the intent was to say that lawyers get rewarded, but many (or most) don’t get the symbolic rewards they may have expected based on pre-work experience. In that case, shouldn’t the headline have been this: “Not Everyone Gets a Trophy”? Or maybe: “No Trophies for Just Showing Up”?
—Peter Tannenwald
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Name game
Having read with interest David Weisenfeld’s “Eligible Receivers” (October-November, page 32) discussing the inevitable, looming litigation occasioned by name, image and likeness promises made to young college athletes, I have tender thoughts. Given their rigorous practice regimens and travel commitments, few of those athletes find time to devote to academic pursuits. Hence many are students in name only. A growing number of students are challenged even to read a book.
Shouldn’t universities focus more on their mission of educating students and less on entertaining alums? For readers who believe these sports programs generate financial support for universities, I would direct your attention to The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values by James L. Shulman and William G. Bowen, wherein those economists conclusively debunk that notion.
—Thomas Goetzl
Bellingham, Washington
Grayscale drinking
In regard to “Under Pressure: Understanding alcohol addiction in the legal profession,” (ABAJournal.com, Nov. 25), I was 13 years old when I started abusing substances. I did not stop until I was 36—Jan. 30, 1989. I will be 72 in a couple weeks, and I have been practicing law full time for 45 years. I have been an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous the entire time. I can’t say it is the only way to solid long-term sobriety, but for me, it has been extraordinary. Everything about my life is so much better, both personally and professionally. I now have the privilege of participating in my life instead of surviving with foxhole prayers and luck. If one thinks they have a problem, I suggest trying AA. It is a boost to a better life for many, and the only organization where everyone wants you to succeed.
—Seymour Schwartz
Berkley, Michigan
