I really dislike book reviews like this one in “The Compleat Lawyer”:
What is it like to be a female attorney in today’s world, particularly in comparison to being a male attorney? How are women lawyers treated–by clients, male attorneys, other women attorneys, and judges? Are their original expectations about becoming a lawyer being met, or frustrated? How are they dealing with the increasing hostility toward attorneys? What are they doing to balance the demands of their careers, their personal needs and their family commitments? What advice would they give other women who are entering, or considering, the law profession?
Now that I think of it, I must confess that I dislike not only book reviews like that, but I also dislike Judi Craig’s book Women Attorneys Speak Out! I love a good “consciousness-raising” and “coming to voice” as much as the next feminist. But at some point, people tune out yet another personal narrative of “opposing-counsel-thought-I-was-a-secretary-and-asked-me-to-get-coffee.” So how about a follow-on of “Women Attorneys Solve Problems!” or “Women Attorneys Theorize Change!” Those books would be more interesting.
-Bridget Crawford
Maybe some people tune it out because it hasn’t happened to them recently. For those of us who still get the why-can’t-you-be-a-man line from our clients, knowing we’re not alone is some comfort.
Just last month, I was in court representing one of my industrial clients and the judge kept calling me by one of my law partner’s name. I finally corrected the fellow, and he piped up with “Oh! I didn’t think that there would be more than one woman in a firm representing [that client]!” A few minutes later, he returned to the issue and apologized on the record for his mistake and for his incorrect assumption.
So, yeah, sometimes it helps to know that others go through it.