Blog #37: ABA Report

There were similarities and differences between the report, Charting Our Progress, by the American Bar Association Commission and Holly English’s book, Gender on Trial. The first similarity was as simple as reporting on the presence of women in the law field. The accounted that the number on women as lawyers and who have graduated from lawyer has increased quite significantly. However, they also both reported that women are still facing many barriers in the profession and that a lot of these barriers stem for attitudes that have not changed. Both also talked of the stereotypes that are associated with women lawyers, such as, being too aggressive, too emotional, and too bossy. When these traits are attributed to male lawyers they are seen as good things instead of as negative attributes when applied to women lawyers. They are also talked down to by men in the law field by not addressing them correctly. The report and English’s book both talked of the family friendly policies that are available. The majority of the time these policies are unwritten. When women and men chose to exercise their right to use the policy they are ostracized and penalized. They are also seen as less committed to the job. The both expressed concerns with the billable hours that they are required to meet. This has caused some women to leave their positions. English went further by saying that women are more honest in their billing of hours. The report by the ABA stated concerns that gay and lesbian lawyers were facing; English tried to not get that diverse in the issue. Both the report and English stated that mentoring was very important and that more mentoring programs need to be adapted to the firms. Another similarity was to have more flexible hours for lawyers to be able to utilize. The report and the book were both very educational on learning what women, and some men, go through on a regular basis. It was also obvious that change needs to happen.