What Is The Ceiling Made Out Of?

The Court Life #1

Women attorneys are a minority presence in the courts. It was particularly noticeable when I watched the judge conference with attorneys handling 325Ds (cases with suits >$25,000 that are referred to the civil courts by the Supreme Court). Out of the 30 sets of cases that came up, each with one or two attorneys on each plaintiff/defendant side, I only saw one female lawyer.

While many female lawyers may decide to focus on their families after spending several years working at a law firm, this decision does not account for the huge disparity in numbers of women who are partners and men who are partners. Instead, the policies and general atmosphere that law firms have in place discourage many women from keeping their jobs at the firm. That only 20% of partners are females, while the number of males and females graduating from law school are 50/50, is upsetting.

Maternity leave: Law firms are incredibly strict with time allotted for maternity leave--because what are you going to do? sue the law firm if you don't the time off they will allot to you? Here's a story I heard from a law student: a female lawyer came in and told her boss that she was pregnant. He looked at her in utter confusion, as if to say, "Why on earth would you choose to be pregnant?" She quickly says, "I only want one week maternity leave. I will work up until the day that I am in labor, I will take one week off after I give birth, and then I will be back on my Blackberry and laptop at the end of that week, working from home for a week or two." Her boss looks at her hard. Fortunately, he decides to agree to this plan of action.

Interaction with other attorneys: While males who speak candidly and take drinks with their co-workers are simple having a good time, a female attorney who does the same may be perceived as flirtatious. A female attorney who does not interact with her male coworkers and bosses in a frank way misses out on a great number of opportunities. Catch-22. Regardless of how she acts, her male counterparts have developed an annoying habit of winking at her. If she does make it and break through a couple of ceilings and floors, she will find that it lonely at the top. The number of women in her rank drops steadily as she ascends. There are few female mentors/role models/female leaders in place to advise her as she climbs.

One floor, two ceilings: The Vance Center's report, "Best Practices for the Hiring, Training, Retention and Advancement of Women Attorneys", says that women of color have an even harder time rising to partner status in firms. Discouraged by all of the factors that prevent women from rising, as well as all of the factors that work against a person of color from advancing, the report says that most women of color will leave the law firm after seven years. Almost all will leave after eight years.

What can a woman do? Without changing the institution itself, there are two options. One, mentioned above, is to settle down after a few years and leave the firm. The other is to sacrifice, endure, and keep organized. Female attorneys have headed families--it can be done. However, recent literature holds up Sonia Sotomayor, who is divorced and has no children, and Elena Kagen, who has never married, as the types of women who will be able to rise to the top.

How can the institution be changed? Law firms do not benefit from losing their employees-when an attorney resigns, their clients, cases, etc. disappear as well. The report by the Vance Center estimated that firms lose $500,000 when an attorney resigns.

In light of that fact, I asked a few female law students casually if they thought things might change over the next thirty years for women, just as things have changed dramatically for female attorneys over the last thirty years (not necessarily for the better). They smile and shake their heads, resigned to what's ahead. "Probably not."