Help with a class project?? kind of long

[suesinfl]

That project is from my Business Law class, but is not related to business law.

I know that swamp and midwesternjd are female attorneys, and would love for them to respond even if it's through a pm, but am also looking for other responses.

The project:
Watch a movie that is legal in nature. Tell your response to the movie, NOT the plot.

Interview someone who has engaged the services of a lawyer. Does not have to be connected to the plot of the movie. What was their experience in hiring a lawyer? Observation only, not about their case.

Interview a lawyer about their profession. Why did they go in this direction, what obstacles did they encounter, etc. It does not have to be related to the movie or the person who you interviewed.

Create a theme to tie all information together.

I have my theme based on the movie (The Client-Reggie, female, not taken seriously, having a hard time establishing herself, etc.)
I have someone who purposely set out to hire a female attorney, etc.

I now need feedback from female lawyer(s) who may or may not have had to overcome obstacles, establish themselves, etc. Or someone who has purposely hired a female attorney and why. Not about the case by why a female.

That’s the basis of the paper, I do have more information/thoughts on how to bring everything together, but wanted some input.

Thanks for any help

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Sept 4, 2011 5:52:31 GMT -5 suesinfl said:

I now need feedback from female lawyer(s) who may or may not have had to overcome obstacles, establish themselves, etc.

I graduated from law school in 1992 and practiced in the litigation field until the end of 2005.

Some things about being a female attorney were annoying over the years ~ things like sitting in a room at another law office, waiting for a deposition to start, and having the other attorneys and the clients all assume that because I was female ~ I "must" be the court reporter. Or maybe a paralegal/legal assistant.

Since my real life first name is traditionally a male name, I can't tell you how many times I was greeted by people (attorneys, clients, witnesses) with an exclamation of "HEY! You're a girl!" as a greeting.

While there ARE a great many women practicing law these days, some practice areas seem to have more women attorneys than others. (Family law would be one example.) From a civil litigation standpoint, I easily encountered 10 male attorneys for every female attorney ~ that was just the norm. And sometimes I'd find myself sitting in a courtroom (to argue a motion) and I was the only woman in the room (other than the court reporter and the clerk). Since I refused to wear blue, grey, brown, or black ~ (I prefer colors) .... I always stood out. (grin) It's hard not to feel a bit isolated some times.

What I liked best, though, was how often I was initially underestimated by the male attorneys I was up against. Because I was female, perky, and (usually) younger ... many thought that they were smarter (something that was usually not the case.) One of my greatest joys was outsmarting, outlawyering, outarguing, and out negotiating guys who were condescending, arrogant, rude, or bullies. SCORE!

Because my practice area eventually evolved into the defense of complex civil matters (wrongful death, civil rights, police excessive force) ... the number of women I faced across the courtroom was smaller and smaller. In all of my trials, only once did I face another female attorney... the rest were men.

During my 13 years of working as a trial attorney, I steadfastly refused to change who I was and to play the "pretend to be a b*tch" sort of thing so that I would be taken more seriously. And I never wore a suit, either. And the best part? I never had a "bad result" at trial, either.

;D

[suesinfl]

Rick,
thanks, that was a good movie, but it was one of the ones that were on his "no" list. Apparently it had been done so many times, he does not want another paper on it. I don't watch movies or a lot of TV so I'm not sure what ones fall into my theme.

[suesinfl]

Molly!! I am so sorry that I did not add you to the female attorneys here. I forgot that you use to practice law. Thank you so much for responding, that type of information is exactly what I am looking for. May I use the information in general that you posted? Not direct quotes of course, since I can not cite you.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Of course.

[NoNamePerson]

You probably don't need another movie suggestion but I don't mind very well and suggest The Verdict. Other than that I have nothing to add to this thread

[midjd]

I agree with everything Molly said

I now need feedback from female lawyer(s) who may or may not have had to overcome obstacles, establish themselves, etc. Or someone who has purposely hired a female attorney and why. Not about the case by why a female.

I don't work in a firm (state government) and I know the firm culture is very different and still much as Molly and Chef described. However, I haven't noticed any blatant sexism at my current job (our director is a woman ) - there have been a couple of occasions when I could tell I was not being taken seriously, but that was due to my age, not my gender. They are very family-friendly and it seems that a lot of my coworkers took their current jobs to get out of the law-firm grind... the pay is much, much lower, but we work 8:30 - 4:30, don't usually take work home, and have good benefits and a lot of paid holidays.

However, a couple of months ago, one of my coworkers was giving my 1L intern advice about navigating the job market, so I will paraphrase her experience. She went to law school in another state and started at a firm there. There were a few female partners who really mentored the new attorneys and helped them navigate firm life as a female. Coworker married, moved here, and started at the largest firm in the state. There were no high-level female attorneys and no mentorship program. Coworker is extremely tenacious and I know hung on out of sheer stubbornness, but apparently butted heads with the management quite a bit - they made her travel while 8-9 months pregnant, wouldn't let her hand off cases during maternity leave, etc. She jumped through all their hoops but felt she was falling short as a mother. She was about to make partner and knew she would be traveling 3-4 months out of the year and missing time with her family... decided to quit and now works with me. I'm glad, she is awesome ;D

This was about 7-8 years ago, but she says that her coworkers with whom she is still friends say that things are no different now. Seems as though the mentorship program really had a huge effect on female success at these firms.

And I can see how difficult it can be on women deciding whether or not to "mommytrack" themselves out of a six-figure job... especially since you're at least 25 when you graduate law school and will generally be paying off student loans through the end of your childbearing years.

This is probably more related to a specific obstacle, but hopefully it helps a bit

[973beachbum]

My favorite lawyer movis is an older one so I would think you would have to find it on Hulu or something but it was a good movie and really delves into things like laywer scrupples and such.

"From the Hip" 1987 starring Judd Nelson and Eliz Perkins

ETA I checked and it isn't on Hulu it is on Netflix. ;D

[suesinfl]

Thank you everyone, your perspective will help a lot. 973beachbum, I will try to find that movie. Nonameperson, I have seen it many years ago and it was a great movie. Thanks for the suggestion.