The Girl Attorney® Story
GIRL ATTORNEY, LLC exists for women attorneys to advance, promote, support, and encourage one another. Though the focus of the Community is about being working women, generally, and the practice of law, specifically – the Community is welcome to both those that do, and do not, practice law. I am SO glad you found your way here – and am thrilled to tell you a little bit about the path that brought me here too!
It was the fall of 2010, and I had recently begun working at a large law office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. My job responsibilities included vetting cases for possible representation. For the convenience of those I connected with by phone, I developed a habit of ending those conversations with, “Here’s my name and my direct line, but also, if you lose this information – as long as you remember the name of this law office – call back, and ask for THE GIRL ATTORNEY.” I was the only female attorney that worked at that office, so – no matter who answered the phone – the caller would easily find their way back to me.
A few years later (having tried, as lead/solo counsel, more than a dozen jury trials by then), while attending a trial lawyers’ conference, I quickly noted that I was one of no more than five women there – out of well over 100 trial lawyers. What’s more, throughout that multi-day conference, I was repeatedly mistaken for someone’s spouse. There I was – with my people – but, simply for being female, I was also virtually unrecognizable to them.
I’ll admit it; I was discouraged.
On the last day of the conference, from my back-corner-of-the-large-conference-room seat, I observed the otherwise collective chest-thumping of the crowd, and I contemplated the role of my femininity in this “jungle.”
Me: Girl Attorney.
Naturally (for me), my mind wandered to the possibility that there was some source of solace for me, to be found online. So, I searched the internet, and was surprised to find – I could not find anything. I found stories and articles about working women in general, and working female attorneys specifically – some books, sure; but I did not find a Community.
Before I got up from my seat that day I searched for – and bought – girlattorney.com.
Over the next several years, considerable thought, research, observations, experiences, conversations, and coffee contributed to the development of the context of this company – and the GIRL ATTORNEY, LLC brand as a whole. In fact, it still is (and will always be) a work in progress. But, you can know this – no matter the form that GIRL ATTORNEY, LLC takes – I am fundamentally committed to providing a forum for a Community of support and encouragement to women attorneys, across the United States.
––
Susan Carns Curtiss, Founder and CEO of GIRL ATTORNEY, LLC
