Law Schools, Sexism

The Pink Ghetto: Sexism Is Alive And Well In Law School

Female law students are subjected to sexist behavior from both their peers and their professors.

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sad-upset-young-lawyer-summer-associate-law-student-stress-needs-helpWelcome 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 take a look at the sexist behavior that women are often subjected to during their time in law school. These are real emails that 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 went to a southern law school in the Bible Belt. I took Family Law as a 2L. Our professor was a local family court judge known to be a big church-goer in the area. He would often call on me and flirt openly in class despite the fact he was 75 and I was 24. For the sake of the story, my name will be “Jamie Johnston.” One day in a class of 90 people, he called on me to help with a legal issue. He asked where the wife should reside and he said, “I know! She can live on 69 Johnston.” This happened in front of 90 people (mostly 3Ls) who were laughing hysterically at me. I have never been that mortified in my life.

Throughout high school, college, and law school, I’ve always preferred to wear skirts and dresses when I go to class. After a series of awkward exchanges, I found out one of my professors prefers that I wear skirts and dresses too. His comments make me incredibly uncomfortable. I don’t want to give up my identity just because he can’t seem to control himself. I don’t know what to do.

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While I was in law school, I was assisting my boss at a deposition. We were in a very small office law library, with a narrow table, and opposing counsel across from me put his hand up my skirt. During a break, I told my (male) boss; while he didn’t say anything to the other lawyer, he did he have me trade seats.

During the same clerkship, during a case conference, my boss introduced me as his law clerk. Opposing counsel looked me over, and then said, “So that’s what they’re calling them now.” His tone of voice and facial expression made it very clear what he meant by this comment.

I went to a smaller law school in the South and I graduated [sometime in the last 10 years]. I thought it was really strange that my law school didn’t have a Women’s Law Association, so I tried to start one with a group of my friends. We were all 1Ls. When we approached the leaders of the Student Bar Association (all male, mostly 2Ls and 3Ls) to pitch our club idea we were told that there wasn’t a place on the funding roster for a group of “uninformed feminists.”

We took this up with the dean and we not only got our club but we also got our funding. Despite how offensive their statement was, they got off with a slap on the wrist. We were so disappointed the law school adopted a “boys will be boys” attitude about this.

When I was a 1L at a T14 school, there was this guy who wouldn’t leave me alone — he would follow me around, “randomly” run into me on campus, ask my roommate and friends about where I would be at certain times, and leave flowers at my door. When he learned that I would be going to Hawaii for my summer internship, he started applying for jobs in Hawaii as well (creepy). He just barely managed to get a job there — one that I had been offered but turned down for another. Apparently his ego was bruised by the fact that he got a job only because I had turned it down (and perhaps because I wouldn’t take his advances seriously), so he proffered his opinion that they offered me the job first because they were practicing some kind of gender-based affirmative action.

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As a 2L, I was assigned a counselor from career services to work with me on interviewing skills. He told me: “Wear a skirt suit for interviews. A lot of the partners you’ll be interviewing with are pretty old school and to them, pants on women just don’t look as formal.” Looking back, I think I wore pants to all of my interviews and things turned out okay. Maybe there were some gems of opportunities that I missed out on to work for dinosaurs who would have preferred I was wearing a skirt, and an apron along with it.

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!

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.

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