By Victoria Vail
Recently, a member of Clifford Chance’s
Women Committee wrote a list of rules that women who aspire to be lawyers
should follow. She sent the list to
every female associate in the US, and it was leaked to Above the Law. Keep in mind that Clifford Chance is one of
the largest law firms in the world, and made $1.9 billion in revenue just last
year. The list makes one question what
kind of women lawyers were working at Clifford Chance to prompt the author to
write what she did.
Here
is the list:
- “Don’t giggle.”
- “Don’t squirm.”
- “Don’t wave your arms”
- “Don’t hide behind your hair.”
- “Don’t dress like a mortician.”
- “If wearing a skirt, make sure people can’t see up it”
- “Make sure you can stand in your heels.”
- “Your voice is higher than you hear.”
- “Wear a suit, not your party outfit”
- “Understated jewelry, nothing jingly or clanky”
- “Think Lauren Bacall, not Marilyn Monroe.”
- “No one heard Hillary the day she showed cleavage.”
After reading the list, one would assume
that the points would have been common sense to say the least for a woman hired
at any job let alone at a Clifford Chance firm.
However, many of the women who received this list were appalled by the
“advice” they were given which they claimed to have learned in high school let
alone law school. Stories like this and
the everlasting struggle of equality for women in the work force can make a
prospective women lawyer question her potential success in the field of
law. Conversely, many others brush it
off and reassure themselves that they are the ones made for the world of law.
Regardless of one’s view, research regarding
women working at law firms can speak for itself. Twelve years ago, Florence Martin-Kessler
interviewed twenty one women who had just graduated from law school and were
about to begin their careers with Debevoise & Plimpton. Each of them beamed of having high hopes for
their futures as lawyers. However, today
only a few of the women are still working at the firm. It can also be said that the rest of the
women pursued their law careers elsewhere.
It also takes longer for women to make partner. More than three-quarters of males make partner
within ten years, while only about two thirds of women do so; furthermore, one
about one third of women expect to be rainmakers (define term), while half of
men do. In light of the data, it is clear that the field of law is not an easy
place in which to be a woman.
Still, some disagree that women have
it worse off than men in the practice of law.
The chairman of Mintz Levin, Robert Popeo, said, “If I had to give any advice to women across the board,
[it would be] do not take the role of a victim because you’re not a victim.
These organizations that seek to jam a quota in do a disservice to these women,
because these women rise on the basis of excellence, not quotas. In my
organization over the past 20 years, the top four producing sections of the law
firm were run by women. They weren’t there because they were women. They were
there because they were talented.” (don’t
end paragraph with quote)
On the other
hand, a Harvard Law Professor Judge Nancy Gertner, stated, {“The question is
whether the measure is what it had been 40 years ago. If that’s the measure,
then certainly we are fabulous. No question about it. If the measure is the
number of qualified women in the pool, that’s a different measure. I love Ruth
Ginsburg’s comment about the Supreme Court. Isn’t it wonderful that there are
now three women on the Supreme Court? No, she said, there should be half, and
there’s no question that should mirror society. So, yes, things are better, there
are high-profile women in some positions, but the numbers suggest a glass
ceiling. The question is why.” } (massive quote) Any person would agree with
this statement who believes in equality in the work place (assumption). Of course, the fifty percent of women should
be qualified and deserve their right to be there.
Popeo, however,
argues that women need to learn the game and play it right. This proves that he does believe it is harder
for women to move up in legal positions, but he does not sympathize for
them. When asked by the Boston Globe if
men were favored over women, Pompeo responded, “No. I think that traditionally
men have done it, and it’s a new experience for women now. You could look to
Karen Kaplan, who is the CEO of Hill Holliday, or Anne Finucane at Bank of
America. They’ve all been out there; they’ve all worked the system. There’s a
truism here. Unless you make the rules, you better learn the rules of the game
and be good at them. You may not like them, but those are the rules of the game
and that’s your route to success.”
Pompeo believes that the “rules of the game” need to be abided by and
played by. Nevertheless, when one places
his firm in the context of the many sexual discrimination cases it has battled
over the past few years, it is hard to take his comments as indicative of the
industry as a whole. Thus, I believe
that women who plan to make it far in the field of law need to define the
rules, not listen to men like Pompeo.
Then what exactly makes a
successful woman lawyer, and why is it so rare to see them? Perhaps there is no better woman to turn to
for advice today regarding women in the legal system, than Supreme Court
Justice Sonia Sotomayor. In her recently
published book, “My Beloved World” she details scenes in whichshe faced
discrimination. During a mock trial, she
received scoffs from a male in the audience and asked him what she did
wrong. He answered, “It’s not you. It’s me. I just don’t like
brassy Jewish women!” Meanwhile,
Sotomayor was raised as a Catholic. She
explained that without women groups she would have never made it to where she
is today and that women need to continue to support each other to receive equal
treatment and pay one day. Her
relentless attitude shines through in her words and actions. Her advice to women is, “Don’t give up. The
greatest obstacle to your own success is your own fear. Failure is never fun.
But each time you fail, you learn something. It’s often said that one should
fight to the last person standing. Hey, they’re still standing. And as a woman,
I hope it’s us.” After Obama swore
Ginsberg into the Supreme Court, he asked Sotomayor if she was happy that he had
brought her not one but two women. She
replied that she was, but she will not be satisfied until five more join
her.
It is true that women are not paid
equally to men, and it is true that they have a harder time being hired over
men or given higher positions than men.
In law particularly, it can be more difficult for a women to face the
stereotypes listed in the beginning of the piece. However, successful women today prove to be
an inspiration for women aspiring to be lawyers one day. Believing in one’s self and never giving up
are truly valuable qualities that women planning to become lawyers should
have. Supporting each other will also
help move the continuous women’s battle in the workplace along. One day, there will be the right amount of
women in the Supreme Court (what is the right #?) just as Sotomayor wishes.
Works Cited
Galbraith,
Sasha. "Justice Sonia Sotomayor's Advice for Women Today: Know When to Fight." Forbes
(blog), February 05, 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/sashagalbraith/2013/02/05/justice-sonia-sotomayors- advice-for-women-today-know-when-to-fight/
(accessed November 20, 2013).
Lat,
David. "5 Findings from a Survey Of New Partners." Above the Law
(blog), November 06, 2013. http://abovethelaw.com/2013/11/5-findings-from-a-survey-of-new-partners/
(accessed November 20, 2013).
Patrice,
Joe. "Biglaw Partner Declares Discrimination Over, Forgets Those Pesky Lawsuits." Above the Law (blog),
November 04, 2013. http://abovethelaw.com/2013/11/biglaw-partner-declares-discrimination-over-forgets-those-pesky-lawsuits/
(accessed November 20, 2013).
Suddath,
Claire. "Hey Female Lawyers, This Firm Wants You to Stop Giggling and Showing Cleavage." BloombergBusinessweek
(blog), October 25, 2013. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-25/hey-female-lawyers-this-firm- wants-you-to-stop-giggling-and-showing-cleavage
(accessed November 20, 2013).
Zaretsky, Staci. "Can
women lawyers have it all? Sure, but not in BigLaw ." Above the Law (blog), November 12, 2013. http://abovethelaw.com/2013/11/can-women-lawyers-have-it-all-sure-but-not-in-biglaw/ (accessed
November 20, 2013).
