Women in the Law

Job Satisfaction of UK Associates Is Increasing

Associates in the United Kingdom are feeling a little more satisfied with their jobs, according to a Legal Week survey. Only 19 percent said they planned to leave private practice eventually, compared to 31 percent in 2005 when the study was first conducted, Legal Week reports. The change was even…

Jun 20, 2008 11:24 AM CDT

Law Student, 77, Looks Forward to Practicing in California

Alice Thomas is the only student at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento who has previously worked as an elevator operator. Perhaps the oldest law student in the country, she is now 77 and will be close to 80 by the time she earns her juris doctor degree. However, Thomas…

Jun 17, 2008 7:09 PM CDT

New Steptoe & Johnson Diversity Partner Schmoozes Undecided Summers

Daryl “Sandy” Chamblee, the newly appointed diversity partner at Steptoe & Johnson, recently did a little schmoozing to help the law firm attract female summer associates. Chamblee, an African American, was recently appointed the first-ever diversity partner at the law firm. She told The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times…

Jun 13, 2008 3:28 PM CDT

Internationally Known Lawyer Patricia Wald to Get Top ABA Honor

Patricia Wald, a lawyer internationally known for her work as a judge and on public interest projects, is this year’s recipient of the American Bar Association Medal, the ABA’s top honor. Wald, who was the first woman on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, served 20…

Jun 12, 2008 8:23 PM CDT

‘It’s Chic to Buy Used Clothes,’ Prominent Lawyer Says

The lure of expensive designer clothes hasn’t lessened. But some well-to-do women have found a way to cut their cost. Instead of buying at retail, they purchase their prized fashion finds pre-owned at consignment shops. Or they save a few dollars by reselling their own designer clothing to others, reports…

Jun 12, 2008 7:52 PM CDT

Weil Gotshal Holds Networking Event at Henri Bendel

Lawyers at Weil Gotshal & Manges combined shopping and networking last week during a private shopping party with clients and friends at upscale clothing store Henri Bendel in New York. Both the store and the law firm pledged to donate 10 percent of the evening’s proceedings to the Breast Cancer…

Jun 10, 2008 5:23 PM CDT

Dad and Daughter a Winning Trial Team, Racking Up $22M in Auto Case

Katie Grassini initially played a key role in one of her father’s personal injury trials long before she went to law school. When Lawrence Grassini needed an assistant to help him represent a ventriloquist in a syndication rights suit, he put his then-10-year-old daughter to work. She watched episodes of…

Jun 9, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

Firm’s ‘Ever Argue With a Woman?’ Ad Provokes Debate on Stereotypes

Updated: Do men and women argue differently? And does that make a difference in the way they work as lawyers? That’s the suggestion of an ad by a women-owned Buffalo, N.Y., law firm that is attracting notice. Its headline: “Ever Argue With a Woman?” The ad touts the strengths of…

Jun 2, 2008 11:28 AM CDT

Gender Gap Due, in Part, to ‘Ambition Gap’?

Although Hillary Clinton is, perhaps, a rare exception, there is a reason why women are underrepresented in lawyer-laden political circles. It’s because they don’t fight as hard as men do for political office, writes Ruth Marcus in a Washington Post column. “There is a substantial gender gap in political ambition;…

May 28, 2008 9:21 PM CDT

Affymetrix Legal Team Jumps Ship to Dewey & LeBoeuf

The general counsel of a California-based genetic products manufacturer is leaving, along with three in-house Affymetrix patent lawyers, to join Dewey & LeBoeuf. Barbara Caulfield, who formerly worked as a federal district court judge before she joined the Santa Clara company, will be in charge of the Silicon Valley office…

May 28, 2008 5:06 PM CDT

DLA Piper Litigator Named Pfizer GC

The lead lawyer defending Pfizer Inc. in litigation over two of its painkillers will become the company’s general counsel. Amy Schulman will take the place of Allen Waxman, said to have left the company for personal reasons. Schulman is a partner at DLA Piper, where she earned $5.75 million last…

May 28, 2008 2:04 PM CDT

Want More Women Partners? Then Name Them, Blogger Tells Firms

As he listened recently to yet another panel of managing partners lament the lack of women in the pipeline to promote to partner in their law firms, a blogger had an epiphany. If they want more women partners, they should make more women partners, writes Aric Press, the editorial director…

May 27, 2008 6:33 PM CDT

UK Survey Finds Male Lawyers Earn $38K More than Females

Male lawyers in the United Kingdom make about $38,000 more a year on average than female lawyers. The median annual pay for male solicitors in private practice is 60,000 pounds (about $119,000) while median pay for females is 41,000 pounds (about $81,000), a 32 percent difference, Bloomberg reports. When hours,…

May 23, 2008 11:11 AM CDT

Should Female Lawyers Put Fashion Foot Forward in Court?

Women clearly have come a long way in the legal profession in recent decades. But perhaps nowhere is the professional difference between the sexes more pronounced than in issues of courtroom attire. Should women wear heels or comfortable shoes they can stand up in all day? Skirted suits or pantsuits?…

May 22, 2008 9:35 PM CDT

Single Mom at 14, Law Grad at 24

Rasheedah Phillips was a single mom at 14. She dropped out of school for six months, and her grades plummeted. But, unlike nearly 70 percent of the teens who become mothers within four years of starting high school, she went back, even as she worked part-time to support her daughter,…

May 22, 2008 3:25 PM CDT