To be a first woman or first in anything is an honor and humbling and exciting because it provides a role model for many people — women, men and others — that you don’t have to fit a certain mold to succeed.
— Yvette Ostolaza of Sidley Austin, commenting on her recent election to serve as chair of the firm’s management committee. Ostolaza will officially take over as chair in April 2022, when she will become the first woman to lead the firm in its 155-year history. She will be the only woman of color to lead a top 10 Am Law firm and among the handful of women who lead Biglaw firms.
AI Is Reshaping Legal Practice—But Tools Aren’t The Real Differentiator.
Explore the mindset, cultural shifts, and training strategies that define the AI‑savvy lawyer, revealing why human judgment, standardized competence, and integrated learning—not technology alone—will shape the future of the profession.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.