The judiciary must deal with #MeToo—and with what I know

From ABA Journal authored by Nicole VanderDoes:

“Time magazine recently named “The Silence Breakers” as its 2017 Person of the Year in recognition of the #MeToo movement and the people who have spoken out about sexual assault. Some of the Silence Breakers led to national storylines chronicling the downfall of powerful men who used their positions to commit sexual assaults and get away with it—until now. And some of the Silence Breakers simply tweeted or posted #metoo, often sharing for the first time, with that simple hashtag, a hint at what they’d suffered.

From Hollywood to news organizations to elected politicians on both sides of the aisle, and now to the judiciary, the list of the accused keeps growing. The stories being reported and (mostly) believed are ones with significant corroboration. But many men will never be accused or held accountable. Because most sexual assaults occur without the corroboration many people require to move beyond their reaction of “Not him?!” when the perpetrator is well-liked professionally and socially, and someone with whom his victim has continued to interact.

This I know from personal experience. And I’ll explain that later in this article.

With the resignation of Judge Alex Kozinski from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, these charges have reached the judiciary on a national level. And lawyers and judges need to be prepared for how to respond and maintain the integrity and independence of the judiciary. Because if it looks like the legal system is protecting its own, it will lose all credibility. How can you trust a judicial system that doesn’t hold officers of the court accountable?”

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The Lawyer, the Addict

From The New York Times authored by Eilene Zimmerman:

“In July 2015, something was very wrong with my ex-husband, Peter. His behavior over the preceding 18 months had been erratic and odd. He could be angry and threatening one minute, remorseful and generous the next. His voice mail messages and texts had become meandering soliloquies that didn’t make sense, veering from his work travails, to car repairs, to his pet mouse, Snowball.

I thought maybe the stress of his job as a lawyer had finally gotten to him, or that he was bipolar. He had been working more than 60 hours a week for 20 years, ever since he started law school and worked his way into a partnership in the intellectual property practice of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a prominent law firm based in Silicon Valley.

Then, for two days, Peter couldn’t be reached. So I drove the 20 minutes or so to his house, to look in on him. Although we were divorced, we had known each other by then for nearly 30 years. We were family.”

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Why Female Lawyers Are Still Shamed for Caring About Clothes

From Racked authored by Ariel Colangelo:

“Six months into my corporate law job at a boutique firm in Manhattan, I was working late one night when a partner came into my office and shut the door behind her. “I want to talk to you about your appearance,” she said. I was horrified. I care a lot about what I wear and the stylistic choices I make, and I had spent those first six months virtually emptying my bank account on Shoshanna dresses, Kate Spade skirts, and Theory suits. What could I possibly be doing wrong?

“When you get dressed for work every morning, I want you to pretend you have a meeting with your biggest client that day,” she instructed. At this point, mind you, I was barely allowed in meetings with other lawyers, let alone clients. “These pants you are wearing are too slim and unprofessional and you need to reevaluate them. I’m trying to help you become a better lawyer, that’s all.” She opened my door and exited, leaving me in my entirely work-appropriate J. Crew slacks to ponder my fashion missteps.”

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Sherry Johnson was raped, pregnant and married by 11. Now she’s fighting to end child marriage in America

From CNN authored by Moni Basu:

“In Florida’s halls of power, Sherry Johnson is somewhat of an anomaly: a black woman who grew up destitute and survived child abuse.

Her story is shocking. Raped at 8 and pregnant at 10, she was forced to marry her rapist at 11. She had to abandon high school after the babies kept coming.
For years, she kept silent. But now, her voice rings clear in chambers where the state’s laws are made. Her unrelenting public pleas to end child marriage are being heard.
After a lifetime of struggle, Johnson’s time has come. Finally.”

 

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Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Says the #MeToo Movement Is Here to Stay

From TIME authored by Eli Meixler:

“The #MeToo movement that has seen women come forward to expose pervasive sexual harassment has “staying power” and will not succumb to a backlash, according to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

The reckoning that has toppled alleged sexual predators from positions of power in the entertainment industry, media and government is “too widespread” to risk a “serious backlash,” Ginsburg said in an interview with CNN’s Poppy Harlow at Columbia University on Sunday. “It’s amazing to me that, for the first time, women are really listened to,” she said. “Because sexual harassment had often been dismissed as, ‘Well, she made it up,’ or ‘She’s too thin-skinned.’ So I think it’s a very healthy development.”

Ginsburg, 84, spoke with Harlow in a wide-ranging and sometimes personal dialogue that touched on her own experiences of sexism, the 2016 presidential campaign, and the Equal Rights Amendment, for which Ginsburg is a vocal proponent.”

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Why Are Female Attorneys’ Voices Going Unheard in the Courtroom?

From Daily Business Review authored by Trisha Widowfield:

“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” —Melinda Gates

“This is certainly true of female attorneys yet, chances are, their voices may not be heard in litigation. Many studies and task forces throughout the years have focused on the participation of female attorneys in the courtroom. A recent New York Times Op-Ed by retired New York Federal District judge, Shira Sheindin, once again highlights the disparity in female attorneys playing a prominent role in the courtroom. Whether the proceeding involves substantive motion or trial, there are myriad examples of female attorneys queuing up the case or argument only to have a male counterpart bask in the glory of making the presentation in court.

Certainly the skill set and competence of the female attorney are not in question, as the firm and client relied upon her to research and draft the motion and prepare the case for trial. However, advancement in the legal profession and progress as a trial lawyer is dependent on developing competencies in the courtroom. Firms have invested their resources to train and mold their female attorneys to structure strong written arguments and effectively prepare the case for trial only to strangle that growth by preventing the next step of presentation in court.  With drastically shrinking opportunities to try cases, it has become even more important for female attorneys to have an opportunity to take an active role in court or they may never gain the necessary experience in this valuable skill set. Oftentimes the female attorney sits as second chair, relegating her as the person to organize and keep track of documents, rather than the one presenting evidence and examining witnesses. Not only does this affect the female attorney’s ability to further her career, but it may also serve to promulgate a jury’s gender bias that female attorneys aren’t as powerful or as competent in presenting the case. The truth is, female attorneys can communicate just as powerfully and effectively, they just need more opportunity.”

 

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Toronto lawyer serves claim with Instagram

From Canadian Lawyer authored by  Alex Robinson:

“When Toronto lawyer Tara Vasdani could not track down a defendant she was looking to serve, she turned to Instagram.

Vasdani recently obtained an order in Ontario Superior Court to serve a statement of claim using the social media app, which allows users to share photos and videos.

She says the order is likely the first of its kind in the province, and by allowing the service of a claim through Instagram, it signals a shift in how lawyers interact with technology.

“[I]n order to avoid becoming obsolete, it is our duty to evolve with society — and one of the concrete and surefire ways society is evolving is through technology,” she says.”

 

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Equal Pay Advocate And Former President of Planned Parenthood On The Mentor She Didn’t Know She Had

From Forbes authored by Christina Vuleta:

“This month in honor of National Mentor Month, we’re sharing the stories of women who are creating new models of mentorship. Like the fast, fluid world we live in, mentorship today takes many shapes and sizes. Increasingly it is more about experience than it is about age. It’s about wisdom exchange with the goal of helping more women own their power and take their rightful place in the world. Gloria Feldt, cofounder of Take The Lead, an organization dedicated to achieving gender parity in leadership and pay by 2025  shared her story of a silent mentor who set her career in motion. 

Mentee: Gloria Feldt, cofounder of Take The Lead, author of No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, and former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America

Mentor: Mildred Chaffin, Head Start

The oil patch of Odessa TX is not the garden spot of the world, not the place where you’d expect progressive programs to even exist. The woman who started the Head Start program there in the late 1960s was not your typical manager. She was a journalist. She was crabby and crusty. A lot of people couldn’t get along with her. Her name was Mildred Chaffin. She was my boss in my first full-time job, and she was my mentor though I didn’t realize it at the time.”

 

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‘It’s About Making History.’ These Athletes Are Breaking Barriers at the 2018 Winter Olympics

From TIME authored by Jennifer Calfas:

“Erin Jackson never expected to qualify for the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

The inline skater, who was accustomed to racing on wheels, had just four months of training in long-track speedskating before she hit the ice at the U.S. speedskating trials in early January. She hoped to someday reach the Olympics, an international competition unattainable in the inline skating world. But she was shocked when she qualified right behind Olympic veterans Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma, becoming the first African-American woman ever to join Team USA’s Olympic long-track speedskating team.

“It’s a pretty exciting thing — especially since you don’t see many people of color in the Winter Olympics,” Jackson told TIME.

Jackson is one of a group of athletes in the U.S. and around the world breaking barriers in their sports at the upcoming Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Maame Biney became the first African-American woman to qualify for Team USA’s speed-skating team. Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy and figure skater Adam Rippon will become the first openly gay male athletes to compete at a Winter Olympics for the U.S. And an African nation will compete in bobsled for the first time with Nigeria’s team of Seun Adigun, Akuoma Omeoga and Ngozi Onwumere, and the country’s first-ever skeleton athlete, Simidele Adeagbo.”

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New Research: Women Aren’t Paid Less Because They Have More Flexible Jobs

From Slate authored by Heejung Chung 

“A recent study shows that the global gender pay gap has increased to 32 percent, and projects that at this rate, women will have to wait another 217 years for the pay gap to close. It’s not just your own gender, but the gender makeup of your workplace that predicts your wages. Workers in female-dominated workplaces have been shown to be paid less than other workers. An industry’s pay level even starts to decrease when women take over a male-dominated field.

Some argue that the low pay for women is justified by the fact that ‘women’s work’ is generally less strenuous/hazardless work compared to men’s work, and that, in exchange for lower wages, they have better working conditions—especially those that allow a better work-life balance. Some well-meaning scholars argue that women sometimes forego higher pay to have that flexibility in their jobs—an argument sometimes extended to suggest that women voluntarily “choose” lower paying jobs to facilitate their “life choices”—read: to take care of children.”

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