The Complete Lawyer

Do women have an obligation to help each other succeed? What do women today owe the feminist pioneers of the 1960s and 1970s who sacrificed so much? What do women today owe their children, knowing that more remains to be done before full equality is achieved in the workplace?

Studying the status of women in the legal profession today, it’s easy to be discouraged by the slow rate of progress. Only 17% of law firm partners are women, a statistic that has not changed much over the last two decades. And that number is significantly lower when the analysis is limited to equity partners. Moreover, women hold less than 15% of key leadership positions on firm Management and Compensation Committees. The percentage is even smaller when calculating the number of women managing major law firms. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the number of women lawyers in the proverbial pipeline and those who have the opportunity to undertake leadership and partnership roles.

The Legal Landscape For Women Has Changed In 40 Years

Still, there’s no denying that the status of women has changed. Forty years ago, women could not retain their birth names after marriage or obtain credit in their own names. Single women were unable to obtain insurance. Abortions were relegated to dangerous back-alley procedures and contraceptives were not freely attainable.

Change happened because forward-thinking women began working together, creating historic coalitions that worked effectively to eliminate gender bias and discrimination. Their efforts produced a series of education-related bills to prohibit sex discrimination in school activities, opening the door to new opportunities in the classroom for young girls. Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded programs or activities, resulted in sweeping opportunities for women student athletes. Legislation was also passed prohibiting discrimination in employment on the basis of sex—a fundamental right in today’s workplace.

Pioneering Women Made A Difference

The efforts of these pioneers clearly demonstrate that when women work together, their impact can be profound. Perhaps women today should study the extraordinary efforts of these women whose successes made ours possible, such as 85-year-old Betty Roberts, a lawyer, activist, legislator, and first woman Justice of the Oregon Court of Appeals, and subsequently, its Supreme Court. She played a critical role in eliminating many of the overt sources of discrimination that existed not that long ago.

Betty Roberts recognized that she would need determination, resolve, toughness, perseverance—and ultimately trust—for her ambitious agenda to succeed. But she also understood that creating meaningful change would require a coalition of like-minded individuals. In forming a Women’s Caucus in the Oregon Legislature, she brought together women of different ages, backgrounds, marital status and party affiliation to achieve a common purpose: securing equal rights for women. She described the satisfaction derived from “…working with a community of goal-oriented women who never spoke ill of each other, never showed signs of jealously or envy, and bonded together as if our lives depended upon it.”¹

Notwithstanding her collaborative efforts, she faced opposition from her own ranks, and described her disappointment with women who did not support their efforts. She spoke of women who opposed a state Equal Rights Amendment, declaring that they did not want equality. She expressed particular disdain for “…their selfishness in not wanting other women to have equal opportunities to live their lives as they chose without enduring discrimination.”²

But the lack of unanimity did not deter the Women’s Caucus. Pushing for major legislative initiatives, they formed powerful coalitions with others, including men who supported their efforts, and moved forward in a number of critically important fronts.

To read Betty Roberts’s memoir, With Grit and by Grace, is to be struck by the many parallels between her role as a lawyer and pioneer of women’s rights, and the relevance of her experiences to women lawyers today. Betty Roberts remains an icon who still gains recognition for her prodigious achievements, including the prestigious Margaret Brent Award from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession.