Tips From A Partner: How Should Women Deal With Sexism In Biglaw?

Should women learn to take sexism in stride and move along with their careers?

sexual harassmentI never really focused on the fact that I was a woman as I navigated my career. Certainly, things happen and comments are made and, for the most part, I would either laugh it off or gently tease in response, just to point out that I noticed, but am not taking it to heart. Any woman my age has stories to tell about probably less-than-stellar behavior in other people. I never let it impact me. I frankly would just barrel right through it. If you’re female and young, it’s a little different than if you’re female and you’re a little bit older. Every once in a while I’d sense that someone wondered about my abilities. And when I sensed that was happening, my reaction was just to, without saying anything, but through my work and professionalism, just to show them whatever preconceived notion they had was not correct.

Melinda Haag — the outgoing U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, who will return to Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe to become the head of the firm’s global litigation department in March — offering advice for women in Biglaw, in an all-encompassing interview with Bloomberg’s Big Law Business.

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