Why This Biglaw Associate Wears A Hijab To Work

She's smashing stereotypes left and right and teaching lawyers to accept others.

onJune 29, 2016 at 3:25 PMJune 29, 2016 at 3:26 PM

This is one of the only countries where we can be who we are and still belong to American society. My “work” ridas are mostly blues and greys.

Obviously, we’re in a politically charged time. We have an American presidential candidate running on a platform of explicit bias, and there’s a misconception about women who wear hijab. I want to help people be more culturally competent, to create a dialogue.

— Fatema Merchant, a senior associate at Sheppard Mullin, explaining some of the reasons why she wears a hijab to work. Merchant says she does not know any other Muslim woman in Biglaw who chooses to wear a hijab to the office.

Sponsored

Navigating Financial Success by Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Maximizing Firm Performance

In this CLE-eligible webinar, we’ll explore the most common accounting pitfalls and how to avoid them for your firm.

From Pilot and Above The Law

Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.