It was recently International Women's Day (March 8). In the sometimes vacuous and disturbing world of social media, there are positive moments. One example is that I learned it was International Women's Day. Not through the news, but through social media, I was informed. That ability to pass information is a critical benefit of the medium. Granted, there are plenty of countervailing challenges with those platforms, but some opportunities for greater knowledge.
There was a series of posts in which various women lawyers expressed moments of discomfiture or disappointment based upon the boorish (or worse) behavior of males. I was admittedly surprised. In my world, I do not witness discriminatory behavior in the practice of law, the legal education system, or the workers' compensation community. But, the complaints and anecdotes made me think.
I checked some figures on gender in the legal profession. According to the American Bar Association (a voluntary trade group to which some lawyers belong), less than 40% of the lawyers in this country are female. It notes that the participation is increasing. There have been incremental increases in female participation in this profession.
Another ABA report says that the population of American lawyers is around 1.3 million. That equates to about 780,000 male attorneys and 520,000 female attorneys and a current difference of 260,000. If law schools maintain a graduation rate of 50/50%, it will take a notable time before the practicing population is 50%/50. A more rapid path to that parity comes only if the graduating female students markedly exceed the males.
Men have been, and remain, the majority of legal practitioners. That means that there is a majority/minority relationship in that marketplace. Despite that, there have been some notable achievements in the last 100 years or so. The fact is that one can identify many "firsts" in that period: the first female lawyer, judge, appellate judge, etc. The first ABA report above noted "From 1950 to 1970, only 3%" of lawyers were women.
Statistically, Women are at a slight advantage. They make up 50.4% of the U.S. population, according to the census. And law school admissions are certainly trending to the benefit of women also. According to Jurist, there have been more female law students than male for the last eight years. Thus, we are on a path to parity, to erasing that 260,000 disparity. But, gaining a small percentage each year will draw the division to equality very slowly.
And, any gains in graduation and bar admission will move toward parity in the profession. There could nonetheless remain disparity if the practice of law. Some note that there are challenges in retaining female attorneys. The practice is challenging in any regard, ask any lawyer. However, there is at least some perception that the practice faces particular retention challenges with women.
The recent social media discussion noted examples of inappropriate comments to female attorneys. There was mention of judges referring to counsel as "little lady" and perceptions of disparate treatment both by the bench and male lawyers alike. There was a story recounted in which a jurist made demeaning comments to a law firm partner about a young female associate. The statement was loaded with both invective and innuendo.
I have witnessed poor behavior, and to some extent striven to address it. One example that sticks in my mind involved a curmudgeon trying a case against a bright, young, female attorney. Throughout the process of marking exhibits and working through objections, the curmudgeon insisted on referring to the female attorney by first name.
That may seem like a small thing, but there is dignity in expressions. In hearings, we refer to professionals appropriately. That means last names for lawyers. That means titles such as "doctor" are appropriate when addressing participants regardless of their gender.
In the case of the curmudgeon, I was disinclined to intervene. I recall wondering whether intervention on my part would somehow be perceived as taking sides from the bench or signaling a perception that the young lawyer needed assistance (I admired her tenacity and to this day I doubt she needed any help). Was I troubled by the first name out of a sense of decorum or chivalry? I had self-doubt about my course and my role. Thus, I did not address it immediately.
But after several iterations, I corrected the curmudgeon. Not abrasively or curtly, just a simple "we address each other by last name in this room." One would think that with intelligent people, such a reminder would be sufficient. However, that day I would repeat that sentence several times. I wondered thereafter whether the curmudgeon was simply suffering from senility or was intentionally returning to the first name references as a method or plan.
At the end of the day, I am glad that social media alerted me to the fact that there remain curmudgeons in the practice of law. Despite judicial perceptions (I suspect that judges witness lawyer's "best behavior" more often than not), there seems a significant body of evidence that boorish and worse behavior remains in the practice of law. According to some on social media, they perceive judges to be the source of boorish behavior. That is more disturbing still.
Some contend that there are various examples in which challenges and hurdles are more pronounced for certain women, with specific references focused on race, age, and more. We all likely want to believe that people are generally appropriate and that they do not strive to be hurtful, inappropriate, or worse. That said, I fear that there is at least a perception of some groups that there remains mistreatment, disrespect, and worse.
As with many challenges in society, there is perhaps a variety of approaches to remediation. I would suggest that the best first step would be our collective and unanimous realization that bad behavior is a potential in every interaction. There may be offense, whether intended or incidental. In every conversation, you have no control over how you are perceived. And you have no idea what kind of a day your listener is having.
As we progress (yes, age) perhaps we can each start with the premise that what we say may matter. Perhaps we should all be less concerned about whether we might offend with our intervention in standing up to curmudgeons. Instead, we should speak up when we encounter curmudgeons and be clear in our collective and individual insistence that professionals are treated professionally.
When someone does react or intervene, we aging citizens need to be particularly aware, and reactive. We have to ask ourselves, "am I becoming that curmudgeon?" Our futures require nothing less.
