It’s a fact consistently underscored by studies and statistics: Women are underrepresented in the American legal profession overall and in leadership positions in particular. But what can be done to address the issue?
That question will drive the inaugural Forum on Women’s Leadership in the Law, being held Feb. 12 at the Law Center in New Brunswick.
The program will include a keynote conversation between NPR award-winning legal correspondent Nina Totenberg and Federal District Judge Susan D. Wigenton. Other speakers include the Hon. Karen Cassidy, chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts; Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams; NJSBA Board of Trustee member Christine Amalfe of Gibbons; Ebonee Hamilton Lewis, assistant general counsel for Becton, Dickinson and Company; Michelle Miller, assistant attorney general in the New Jersey Division of Law; Lynn Fontaine Newsome, president of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and partner at Newsome O’Donnell; and Thomas F. Quinn of Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker.
While conversations about women in leadership in the legal profession have been ongoing for many years, a 2015 study from the American Bar Association put the problem into sharp relief. A review of sample cases filed in 2013 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found that men are three times more likely to appear in lead roles than women in civil cases.
“Women appear on the docket, but...very few of them actually appear as first chairs to argue motions,” said Amalfe, who is spearheading the event. “It was really eye-opening that so many women appear as second and third chairs, so many women appear as the authors of briefs, and so few women appear as the ones arguing the motions or the ones trying the cases.”
A 2016 study by the legal consulting firm DOAR found that diverse trial teams that include women in significant, leading roles could actually give legal teams competitive advantages. The study looked at how mock jurors perceived male and female attorneys.
“Females showed an implicit bias towards female attorneys,” explained Ellen Brickman, who authored the study. “It’s an argument for diverse trial teams...You want to capitalize on your strengths. If women like to hear from women, then build on that.”
Ultimately, the goal of the Feb. 12 event is to come up with solutions to the dearth of women in leadership roles. To that end, the morning will include a “hackathon,” where attendees will outline action items for fixing the well-defined problem.
“The idea is, we take a lot of women from diverse backgrounds…break them into subgroups,” Amalfe said. “Have them brainstorm some solutions. At the end, hopefully, we have some takeaways for everyone.”
To register for the program, click here.