A powerhouse group of women reflected their paths to success in the law during “Know Your Worth: Recognizing and Communicating your Value in the Legal Profession and Beyond,” a program that took place Wednesday morning during the 2021 New Jersey State Bar Association Virtual Annual Meeting.
The panel discussion — co-sponsored by the NJSBA Diversity Committee and the Women in the Profession Section — was moderated by Cheyne R. Scott, partner at Chasan Lamparello Mallon & Cappuzzo and included NJSBA Immediate Past President Evelyn Padin, NJSBA Trustee Tracy Thompson, NJSBA Trustee Susan Nardone, Former American Bar Association President Paulette Brown and state Senator Holly Schepisi.
Scott started the program by asking each of the panelists how they found their own worth.
Schepisi shared that she decided to pass up a law firm partnership to stay home with her sick baby. She hung up a shingle in her house and went into practice for herself.
She said she “found her worth along the way,” recalling that initially, she set her billing rate to 30% less than what her male counterparts were asking. “As a professional you have to be very direct, find your inner strength and voice.”
Paulette Brown, the first African American president of the American Bar Association, said every individual -- particularly women and diverse attorneys -- have to define their own worth and not let anybody else define them.
Padin agreed. She noted the importance "being tough....You have to be unapologetic about the things that you do,” Padin said. “If you’re apologetic about it, you’re not a good lawyer.”
Thompson, who is New Jersey’s Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, said she refused to compare herself to other people, and refused to measure her worth by her paycheck.
“Tracy is good enough how Tracy is, as long as Tracy strives to be excellent,” she said. “You are writing this story, you control the narrative. You are a unique person and when you are one of a kind, you are priceless. That’s your value and that’s your worth.”
Nardone agreed. She also urged attendees to not wait to be noticed. “I always thought as long as I worked hard, and people could see I was working hard, that was going to be enough,” she said. “Looking back, I don’t think that was quite enough…you cannot wait around for people to notice you…make people notice the value you bring.”