Monthly Archives: October 2014

From the Guy’s Side: What is “Success”?

At my firm job, the path to "success" was well-defined. Bust your hump, bill a ton of hours, do good work, and after 8 or 9 or 10 years, you reach the brass ring that is partnership. After a couple of years on this track, though, my wife and I had our first child. I struggled with how best to reconcile my personal goal of spending as much quality time as possible with my growing family, with my professional goal of "succeeding" in a big firm. I did some soul searching, and I came out of it with a new, personal definition of "success."
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Work-Life Balance: For Girls Only?

Jennifer Garner made news when she accepted an award at Elle Magazine's Women in Hollywood event last week and spoke about the double standard between working mothers and working fathers in Hollywood, in a way that is reflected in our industry as well.
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The Importance of a Woman’s Image in the Workplace

A few months ago, I read an article entitled "The Importance of a Woman's Image in the Workplace" that was published in Legal Ink Magazine by William Cane. Mr. Cane states that, “if you are a professional—like a CPA, investment counselor, or attorney—you are going to be judged on the basis of your appearance everyday by clients, colleagues and decision makers.” I do agree with this statement; however, I don’t agree with much else in Cane’s article.
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Friday Funny

Just realized I have been wearing one navy and one black shoe all day long, including to a new client meeting. Awesome. I totally blame the kids in the picture even though I can't rationalize how they are at fault. Happy Friday!

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Lawyer Forced to Bring Newborn to Court

Interesting article from Above the Law yesterday: A federal judge refused to grant a continuance of an immigration hearing finding that the solo practitioner's maternity leave was not “good cause” sufficient to warrant a continuance. Georgia lawyer Stacy M. Ehrisman-Mickle was forced to attend the hearing with her infant child because Judge J. Dan Pelletier, Sr. refused to approve her motion for a continuance even though she had given birth just a few weeks before. The motion for continuance even included a letter from her physician recommending the leave. The attorney has since filed a formal complaint against the judge, noting not only the failure to grant the continuance but the judge's treatment of her at the hearing. Here’s a brief excerpt from her complaint, which is available in full at Above the Law: I was forced to bring my weeks old daughter with me as day care centers do…

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My Decision to Be a Working Mom

The decision to be a working mom is incredibly personal. I will never forget February 13, 2008, the day I got to hold my baby for the first time. He looked up at me and all was right with the world. I will also never forget February 16, 2008 – the day I realized that being a parent was HARD and much more demanding than any client I had ever encountered.
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Where Did My Girls Go?

When I was a young girl, it never occurred that I shouldn’t want to be a lawyer. Being a girl didn’t make me feel any less able or likely to be successful in a career as a lawyer. While men still dominated the profession, growing up in the 1980s there were enough pop culture references to women lawyers to make it seem like a reasonable aspiration. Thank you Claire Huxtable and Christine from Night Court! In college I excelled and never considered that my gender might play a role in my success. I was a student, defined more by my affinity toward language (and procrastination), than my ability (or inability) to apply eyeliner on the shuttle bus from my dorm to class. In law school, the girls I went to school with were excelling, and were clearly represented among the top ranks of our class, whether by their grades, leadership on law review or advocacy competitions.
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