Women in the Law

Trailblazing Lawyer, 91, Feels Pain of Her Pro Bono Foreclosure Clients

At the age of 91, New York’s former solicitor general is going back to her legal roots to volunteer on behalf of clients facing foreclosure. Shirley Adelson Siegel was the only woman in her class at Yale Law School, and she still stands out, the New York Times reports. “At…

Mar 30, 2010 12:40 PM CDT

Ex-Judge Spends Night in Jail in Reckless-Driving Case

A former Michigan judge who was removed from the bench in a June 2008 state supreme court opinion (PDF) spent a night in jail over the weekend after a reckless driving arrest before being freed on $5,000 bond. After initially being arrested Saturday on suspicion of drunken driving, Beverly Nettles-Nickerson…

Mar 29, 2010 8:12 PM CDT

Why So Few Women Partners? Maybe They Don’t Want the Job, Lawyer Says

A partner at Lewis and Roca in Las Vegas notes the numbers: About half of law school graduates are women, but fewer than one in five big-firm partners are women. So what are the reasons for the “leakage?” Writing for the Las Vegas Sun, lawyer Lisa Wong Lackland notes possible…

Mar 19, 2010 2:01 PM CDT

Back from Maternity Leave, Lawyer Researches Pump-at-Work Laws

An associate at Fox Rothschild who returned from maternity leave was presented with a much-needed present from her secretary: a sign reading, “Do not enter-privacy please,” to hang on her door during pumping breaks. Writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer, lawyer Beth Throne said not all employees are so lucky, including…

Mar 19, 2010 11:38 AM CDT

Lawyer-Fashonista Behind Corporette Struts Out of Blogging Closet

Updated: Early on in her tenure at Cahill Gordon & Reindel, Kat Griffin remembers picking up a Diane Von Furstenberg dress that she’d seen on Gilmore Girls. She thought it would be totally acceptable for work. “But then I remember looking down in the middle of a meeting and realizing…

Mar 17, 2010 5:14 PM CDT

Ex-DLA Piper Partner Tells UK Tribunal She Was Fired for Being Pregnant

A former partner at DLA Piper told a United Kingdom employment tribunal yesterday that the law firm was “an old boys’ club” that fired her because she was pregnant. Former real estate partner Sarah Sweeney alleged that the managing partner of the firm’s Liverpool office, Philip Rooney, said women who…

Mar 16, 2010 3:08 PM CDT

New Wiki Will Chronicle Legal Reforms Promoting Gender Equality

The International Models Project on Women’s Rights is unveiling a wiki—a collaborative online database—to chronicle gender equality legal reforms around the world. A prototype focuses on laws fighting acid attacks against women in Bangladesh, according to a press release and the ABA International Law Section page on ABAnet.org. When the…

Mar 11, 2010 5:03 PM CST

Quinn Emanuel Makes Kathleen Sullivan Name Partner

Partner John B. Quinn announced today that it’s changing its name to add its appellate chair, Kathleen Sullivan, as a name partner to the firm which is now known as Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. “Kathleen Sullivan would be on anyone’s list of the top three or four advocates practicing…

Mar 11, 2010 4:27 PM CST

Firms’ Layoffs of Part-Timers Is Shortsighted, Orrick Partner Says

The thinning of BigLaw’s ranks and firms’ focus on profits for partner even during these times has been well-documented. And the layoffs particularly impacted the ranks of minorities and women—hitting women in part by firms’ “reducing virtually anyone working on a part-time schedule” in their downsizing, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe…

Mar 1, 2010 6:41 PM CST

Turnaround

Solos seek advice to survive a struggling economy

Mar 1, 2010 11:30 AM CST

Making Herstory

U.S. Circuit judge encourages the next steps toward equality

Mar 1, 2010 9:00 AM CST

Woman, 79, Finishes Law School, Lands 1st Job in Practice

At a time in life when many attorneys have either retired or are putting the brakes on their careers, Alice Thomas is revving hers up. Now 79, she completed her course work at McGeorge School of Law in December and has already lined up a job working with elder law…

Feb 23, 2010 7:41 PM CST

Recession Hurting Legal Profession’s Diversity Efforts, Report Says

Recessionary concerns are undermining efforts to achieve greater diversity in the legal profession, states an ABA report that will be released Friday at the association’s 2010 midyear meeting. “While law firms have increasingly come to recognize that diverse corporate clients and international markets often require lawyer diversity, the recession is…

Feb 4, 2010 4:02 PM CST

Holding a Mirror to the Profession

Our justice system should reflect the diversity of those seeking to break barriers

Feb 1, 2010 10:00 AM CST

Study: Lack of Opportunity & Access Keeps Women from Serving as Judges

A lack of opportunity and access is restricting the number of women judges on the state and federal bench nationwide despite plenty of qualified candidates, a new study has found. And the situation is worse in some jurisdictions than others: Even as the number of female law school graduates and…

Jan 28, 2010 9:01 PM CST