Blog 35

With more and more women choosing to have both a career and family life it is great to see that is becoming more accessible with the government and corporate backing. A company that promotes a work/family balance is going to end up with more satisfied employees who are able to focus more on their work and focus less on the stress and issues of how to balance the two. When I had my first child the option of being able to take a day off from work because he was sick was not allowed. I could take a sick day as long as I was sick but if I called in sick because my child was sick then I was just docked pay. By companies allowing more flexible use of their vacation and sick time and also allowing for maternity leave for both the mother and the father parents (woman in particular) are finding it easier with the support of their company to juggle both. The government by establishing such programs as the family medical leave act has back employees by saying that things are going to happen and there are going to be those unexpected emergencies where a worker has no other choice but to stay home and face the problem head on and while doing this the last thing on their mind should be “am I going to loose my job over this”? With the availability of breast pumps and the understanding and backing of her employer women are now able to provide breast milk for their child even while working by employers understanding the importance of the issue to the mother and allotting for time where she can get away in a private area and pump. By supporting your employee rather than working against them employers are seeing a much higher success rate in balancing home and work.

blog 33

Women have made great advances within the legal field over the past years but still the number are quite lower than that of males in the legal field. Woman had to work hard to be seen as equals amongst their coworkers. Woman have also had to over comes issues as woman can’t openly express their femininity by wearing lip stick or lip gloss in a courtroom, or wearing their down (unlike some of the older movies where women in the legal profession dressed in the square business attire and wore their hair up often times in a bun in order to look more professional and be taken more serious.) Women moved away from the square business attire and wore clothing with more colors that more closely expressed their individual style. Woman have conquered a career that was quite male dominant for sometime and been successful in doing so. Before women who did seek a profession in the legal field often times at some point have to choose between her career or a family giving up one for the other and yet today many women have shown that it is possible to have both. A great example of this is the law firm that was started by two women and to this day consists of only women. Although it has been a benefit to be able to work along side women who have to deal with some of the same issues that may come up in your life, it has also been hard to build a steady clientele and reassure possible new clientele of their ability to be assertive and strong and able to get the job done without the backing of male partners.

blog 32

Parenthood differs greatly between women and men lawyers. First of all for men lawyers they are the bread winners, the man of the house they go out each day and work and earning a living so that most of their wives financially do not have to work outside the home. There is no need to be out of the office a certain time each night so that you can pick up the kids from the sitters and still make it home in time to put a meal on the table. For men if the kids are up at night sick or there is a new baby in the house that requires nightly feedings this is usually done by the woman of the house there for allowing the man of the house to get a good nights rest so that he can have a productive day at work. Woman who balance motherhood have the worries of not only being able to work and be productive at work but also balance the schedules of her family. Once again if there is a new child in the home then there are going to be night feedings which will most likely be done by the woman (I said most likely I am sure there are men out there who take part in these night feedings whether it be by formula or mom pumping ahead of time.) anyways if it is mom then she has to be able to balance less sleep with the same demanding schedule at work. Men are seen as good providers for their family in the office while the wife stays home and takes care of the family while a women is sometimes looked down up as one who by trying to do both is actually only giving half an effort to work and the other half to her family which means that either way you look at it both sides are being shorted time.

blog 31

Balancing work and family when that career is in the legal field can be very difficult. First of all attorneys are know to work long hours and have very high stress, high demanding jobs. So what happens when a female lawyer who has put in many years worth of education and hard work to get where she is at decides to have a family? Does she have to choose between one and the other or is there a way to balance both with out loosing respect from her colleagues? In our lesson material we have read that often times certain firms and male lawyers feel that there is not such thing as a good part time attorney so what if you want to do both. Many professions such as nurses, doctor’s and judges have individuals who work part-time for one reason or another so why is it impossible to think that it can’t be done within the legal field? English stated in chapter 8 that firms were almost more accepting to partners who were married and had children because you fit in and were what they would call “one of them”. One lawyer said that she was upfront about her family plans from the beginning so there were no surprises, yet another woman wondered if stating your plans ahead of time could work against you in getting the job. With this issue becoming more common with more woman choosing to balance both lives some companies have implemented such these as alternative work schedules and flexible hours and yet some woman choose not to take advantage of these for fear of the way that colleagues will look at her or she may loose her status within the firm. So in other words these women walk a fine line because on one hand you don’t want to loose your standing at work but on the other hand if you don’t take off the time to be with your young family you can be negatively judge because of that also.

blog 29

Nationally, only 4 percent of law firm partners are minorities; even fewer are minority women. The NPR article discussed a recent study that was done by the American Bar Association and looked into cases of discrimination, exclusion, harassment and neglect that caused minority women to leave law firms. Of the women that they spoke to 49% said they had been the victim of demeaning comments or other types of harassment. Within this article we saw example such as the Asian partner that was embarrassed and humiliated in front of a client when called into the managing partners office and he insisted that she speak Korean to a client because she was also Korean. Another case involved a women of Indian descent who would receive such comments as you have tough skin, are you going to scalp me or can I call you Pocahontas and yet when she pointed out that these comments where inappropriate it was her that was accused of causing tension within the work place which ultimately lead to her leaving the firm. One woman compared herself to an exotic animal that was on display she was involved in speaking to upcoming students of color and plastered on many advertisements but when it came to actually being involved and representing the law firm it was her minority status they were most proud and her capable abilities to do the job in which she was hired to do were not recognized or used to their full potential. In a profession where it is your day to day job to upload and represent the law to the best of your abilities it amazes me that this does not hold true within the walls of their own firm. Equality and justice things that you read about and study in school and yet there are those certain individuals who just don’t get it or more importantly “don’t want to get it” .

blog 28

Rosen’s article was just a typical example of how news media will take comments made by individuals and twist and turn them around so that they convey the message that they would like it to convey whether it be fact or fiction. “Rosen's article wasn't based entirely on anonymous comments. He quoted 2nd Circuit judge Jose Cabranes by name. Unfortunately, he cropped Cabranes' comment to make it appear he was criticizing Sotomayor's intelligence. That's pretty bad. What's worse is that Cabranes was actually praising Sotomayor's intelligence With all the hype that took place with Sotomayor’s nomination I was no surprised by Rosen’s article. Sotomayor’s nomination did bring into question her tactics on ways that she rules in certain cases and we do as citizens have a right to be concerned and question any individual who is being nominated to such a position. The most consistent concern was that Sotomayor, although an able lawyer, was "not that smart and kind of a bully on the bench," as one former Second Circuit clerk for another judge put it. "She has an inflated opinion of herself, and is domineering during oral arguments, but her questions aren't penetrating and don't get to the heart of the issue." Sotomayor was not only a woman, but also a woman of Latino descent which right there should have raised a lot of red flags that there is going to be a lot of dirt digging regarding this nomination. A lot of questions were raised on her being a bully on the bench and letting her own opinion getting in the way of been just and fair and yet the “White House points out, "Known as a moderate on the court, Sotomayor often forges consensus and agreeing with her more conservative nominees far more frequently than she disagrees with them. In cases where Sotomayor and at least one judge appointed by a Republican president were on the three-judge panel, Sotomayor and the Republican appointee(s) agreed on the outcome 95% of the time." (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/01/sonia-sotomayor-supreme-c_n_194470.html)

blog 27

The competency gap between women and men within the law field has always existed. When women began to enter the workforce within the law field men were intimidated. The role of lawyer had always been held by a male figure due to their strength, tough exterior and intimidation. Women were not openly welcomed into the field because men felt that a woman could not possibly embrace these qualities. Now women have made giant leaps and bounds in being seen as equals to their male coworkers and yet we have the have the law suit that was file on behalf of Ms. Shaffer. Ms Shaffer’s lawsuit against GE claims that after thirteen years of loyal service and working her way to the highest ranking legal employee in transportation, she was suddenly demoted. The reason given for her demotion was that John Denim wanted to replace her with a big time GC, yet when asked what that meant Shaffer’s response was “I think that’s a fabulous question”. GE a very successful well known and studied corporation says that it worked hard to promote and encourage diversity and yet none of the major GE subsidiaries is headed by a woman.

Blog 26

In chapter four English talks about male backing and the different ways that female partners would turn to their male partners for assistance. “Women sometimes find that they need male colleagues to step in to grapple with unruly opposing counsel, or endorse their advice to clients to get them on board. A female partner mentions how she can draft something and the clients won’t listen to her yet her male partner will draft the same thing and they listen to him. This goes to show that women not only have to fight for equality within the work place amongst their male coworkers but they also have to fight for equality amongst customers. Another attorney expressed how she would look to her mail coworker for validation when clients would show up and seek her male partner due to his reputation they would seem a little uneasy when met by a five foot tall female. The male coworker in this case however showed respect for his female coworker by having the first initial meeting with the clients being with both of them and then he would say a few things in regards to his female coworker regarding her background and qualifications to convince the clients of her ability to do the job. It is important for female lawyers to have the respect and equality from their male coworkers but that respect is not always given from the opposing male attorneys who then they see a female attorney as their opponent feel the need to bully and intimidate the female lawyer and like one of the examples given by English when the female experienced what was being done by the opposing male attorney and putting the best interests of the client first she sought assistance from a male coworker who stepped in and surprisingly the opposing attorneys attitude changed.

Blog 25

The pros and cons of using sexualized behavior as "a weapon in the arsenal”. There are many women in this world who have used or will use their sexuality as a weapon and on the other hand there are women out there who will be accused of moving up in the corporate ladder due to their sexuality. I walk into a department store to shop for jeans with my daughter and as we go to check out we are meet by a woman who normally I would describe as being fairly attractive but at this moment the first worlds to go through my mind were what a slut. Her hair was long and well manicured, her makeup was soft and subtle and yet she had on a top that plunged so low that I waited nervously with each move she made wondering if this was going to be the moment that her breast was going to pop out her top. My thirteen year old instantly made eye contact with me rolling her eyes in disgust. Now I don’t see how when this woman got ready for work that day she put that top and looked at herself in the mirror and said “Yep this is professional and appropriate to wear to work”. I have worked several different places growing up and throughout my life and each place seemed to go over a dress code in the new employee orientation so who blame the woman for wearing that top to work or the employer that deems that sort of dress appropriate attire for their place of employment. I worked for an eye doctor once and I had a co-worker that like to dress according to what the younger girls were wearing often times forgetting that she was in her late forties. The tops were often times to tight showing more skin than they were probably designed to and the skirts and dressed seemed to get shorter and shorter. Now I worked for 2 female doctors in an office that consisted of all women with exception of the office manager who was male. This certain co-worker showed up one day for work wearing a jean skirt that was not only to tight but offensively short and I was delighted when she was approached by the doctor and told that her outfit was inappropriate for the standard they had set for the office and she needed to go home and return in a more appropriate outfit. I don’t know how many times I have sat amongst a group of woman and heard comments like “I wonder who she had to sleep with in order to get that” or “I wonder who’s attention she is trying to get by dressing like that”? I was not the innocent bystander when these comments were being made because frankly I was thinking the same thing. In a society that screams sexuality everywhere you look from billboards to television, to magazines how do we teach the youth of today that sex is not something to be used as a weapon or a tool to get what you want?

Blog 24

I met Amber in a justice studies class at Arizona State University I sat next to her in class and we began chatting and I learned that she was going to continue her study in law she was married and expecting her first child whom she had just found out was going to be a girl. Amber is a stunning woman with long blonde highlighted hair. She wears makeup very fashionable clothing which shows off her curves. Amber carried a designer handbag to every class and she was an amazing student who was very in tune with her studies. Amber would be not be the first lawyer in her family I learned through our conversations that her older brother was currently practicing law and she also had a brother who was a police officer. Amber shared with me the pictures of the nursery she had finished decorating and it was like looking at something out of a fashion magazine. This room was decorated to the tee in pink and black and everything about this room screamed little girl. I enjoyed very much working with Amber on an assigned class project where she instantly took control and when it came time to present I was a nervous wreck, where as Amber stood up there with confidence almost demanding the attention of the room. Amber was someone who seemed to keep a keen eye on fashion trends and what was in; I can’t imagine someone saying that her skills and all her educational training could be judged solely on an outfit she would wear. I googled advice for women lawyers and the one theme that kept popping up was to strive forward to reach your goal, you have chose a well respect career despite all the lawyers jokes and not only as an attorney but also as a woman you will find yourself in the position to have an affect on the law.

Blog 23

When Sarah Palin campaigned with John McCain she under went much scrutiny regarding her appearance and wardrobe. Now call me crazy but I don’t see the connection between Sarah Palin’s abilities to effectively perform her job duties and what she is going to be wearing when she gives her next speech. It seems to me that there are people out there who just look for things to complain about, and they are not happy unless they are putting someone else down. Hilary Clinton was another woman who received much scrutiny for her wardrobe but the comments towards Clinton dealt more with her lack of femininity in her wardrobe and not paying close enough attention to fashion. So Palin’s look is too soft and Clinton’s look is to harsh but what does this have to do with either one of these talented woman abilities to hold a public office. English’s interviews pointed out that woman need to maintain a “Power Look” somewhere between not being to feminine and also not being to masculine, they are to blend in with their male co-workers. I found it appalling that it was brought up that a woman who dresses too feminine and shows off her figure could be considered a distraction in a courtroom or could intimidate a possible client. English compared woman entering the profession of law as to immigrants making their way into new territory facing opposition, hostility and rejection. I have daughter who is 13 now and is developing her owns sense of style that she is most comfortable with and yet when she was younger I bought her the dresses and the tights and the bows and she had a box full of dress up clothes with the costume jewelry, and the plastic high heels all of these items of which can be purchased at the local Toys R Us along with hot wheels, transformers, toy guns and army men. The old saying is that girls are sugar and spice and everything nice I find it sad individuals are judged not on their talents but their fashion.

Blog 22

“Change we can believe in” is the campaign slogan we heard over and over during the Presidential campaign and it seems to be a promise he intended to keep when he nominated Sotomayor for the Supreme Court. Sonia Sotomayor was a woman, she was catholic and she was of Puerto Rican decent all which ruffled a few feathers in Washington. Three women in history have been appointed as a Supreme Court Justice in the United States, a moment in history that should be recognized and celebrated and yet Sonia Sotomayor nomination was met with much scrutiny. Following her nomination Sotomayor would undergo intense questioning of her past judicial decisions, her stand on important issues such as abortion and they would ask her to address her comment made in 2001 when she stated, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.” Sotomayor’s nomination was met with much opposition mainly impart to her gender and race. In an article posted on Politico a writer stated “There is a reason that Lady Justice is blindfolded; she symbolizes that the judicial system is blind in interpreting the law. There is no room for personal feelings or prejudice in the court room. It is a place intended to be devoid of personal stories, designed this way to ensure the equal treatment of all people”. The questions being raised then was Sotomayor going to be able to uphold the law fairly without bias? One must ask themselves if the nomination had gone to a white female or even a white male would they had been met with such scrutiny?