Biglaw, Sexism, Women's Issues

The Pink Ghetto: 'Female Attorneys Don’t Work Hard'

Even more horror stories about sexism and sexual harassment in the legal profession. Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto?

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Welcome back to The Pink Ghetto, a series where we take a look at some of the most appalling stories from one of the most sexist industries in the world: the legal profession. Today, we’ll be taking a look at how women in Biglaw are treated. These are real e-mails and messages we’ve received from real readers.

When you see things like this happening, say something. Together, we can inspire the change necessary to stop this disturbing behavior from being so prevalent in the law.

I work in Biglaw. Nobody believes I am an attorney. I’ve been asked if I am a secretary, paralegal, receptionist, desk clerk, court reporter, and even wife of an opposing party. I get shock and disbelief when I say I am an attorney. Almost every deposition I have ever attended I have been asked (sometimes twice) if I am the court reporter. One time, opposing counsel thought I was the “copy girl” that worked FOR HIM. After a month of working with an expert, he said: “You’re not really an attorney, are you? You’re too young and sweet.”

As an associate, a male partner put me in charge of defending a small litigated matter where neither the plaintiffs nor defendants were without fault. I made a recommendation that the client try to settle and presented a thorough breakdown of what number I thought would do it. The client had me removed from the case and I was replaced with a male colleague.

The case eventually settled (in the range I previously recommended), but the client was resentful that he had not “won” and there was a fee dispute. The client refused to pay for “the girl’s” time and accused me of being of inferior intellect. He finished up with a comment about menstruation and thus I was not worth a dime. The client had a long-time business relationship with the partner. Ultimately, much of my time was written off to placate the client even though it was 100% legitimately billed time. My name was replaced with “associate” for the time that was left on the bill.

I was an associate for a big-name, white-shoe firm working on a huge patent infringement case staffed across offices. Client was sending a large team to one of our east coast offices to get an update on the case. Client’s team included one woman who wasn’t shy about voicing her opinions.

During the conference call to establish who was going to do what during Client’s visit, the senior partner said that my role would be to take the woman shopping during the meeting so that she wouldn’t cause any problems. He only said “just kidding” after one of the women in the room chided him.

I work in Biglaw. Before I made partner, another male associate from my class said: “Female attorneys don’t work hard. Every girl in law school watched Sex and the City and thought they could make a lot of money without working and then just go out and have cosmos.” My mouth was agape. I later celebrated my making partner with cosmos.

Do you have a law school or law firm story you’d like to see appear in The Pink Ghetto? Please email me with “The Pink Ghetto” in the subject line (or find me on Twitter: @StaciZaretsky). You will be kept anonymous. Submissions are always welcome!

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