Thought For The Week: “If it costs you your peace, it is too expensive.” Paulo Coehlo

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The ECOA is Fifty Years Old!

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (the ECOA) was signed into law 50 years ago this week.  Until the passage of that law, women could not get credit cards, home loans, auto loans, or any kind of credit without having a male co-signer.  That may sound other worldly, but it is correct.

I was amazed when I discovered this in 1980 as counsel to a huge home relocation/credit client.  How could it be possible that as recently as 1974, only five years before I was sworn into the bar, women were in such subservient positions in the credit world? It was such a shock to me that I decided to write a paper on it, which I presented to a joint conference of the District of Columbia Women’s Bar Association and Georgetown Law School.  That paper also served as the foundation for my article, “Credit Opportunities for Women: The ECOA and Its Effects,” published in the Wisconsin Law Review in 1981.

I still recall the audible gasps in the audience when I delivered the paper at Georgetown Law School.  The thought that less than a decade earlier none of the conference attendees could get credit on their own was simply unthinkable.  Instead women had to tote a husband or a father to the credit appointment to vouch and co-sign for them.

And I also remember my own shock when I spoke at another conference many years later to hear the woman next to me say, “And my brother sponsored that legislation.”  When I read her name tag, it all came full circle.  Her middle name was Biden — the sister of President Joe Biden.  Indeed, Valerie Biden’s big brother had ushered in a law that gave women greater opportunities to plan and control their own futures.

So, this week I am feeling very good about the credit cards in my own name and my car loan.  I am grateful to Joe Biden and his colleagues in Congress for what they did to free me from that particular form of bondage.

You also should be grateful.  Now go out and charge something on that precious credit card of yours.  Feel the power when you sign for it.  Not so long ago it was only a dream.

For more information about the ECOA, see this article.

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Thought For The Week: “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” Bell Hooks

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Musings on Constitutional Law

All lawyers have had to take at least one course in Constitutional Law to graduate from law school.  I loved the two semesters of Constitutional Law that were required for my graduation, and I still have a pocket version of the  US Constitution for quick reference.  Too nerdy for you?  I accept that, but I cannot accept nonchalance about the guarantees of that document.

Whether you loved Constitutional Law as much as I did is not the point.  It was a required law school course because it embodies the foundations of the American judicial system and other freedoms we have held dear for over 200 years.

Without the US Constitution, we would not have freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, freedom to elect our public officials, and the list goes on and on and on.  We have grown up enjoying these guarantees, and, in the process, it has become easy to take them for granted.

Recent events, however, should remind us that such nonchalance is very dangerous.  There are those among us who would gladly take away what is granted us under the US Constitution.  Those freedoms could easily slip away.

Think about the gravity of what that means.  Never in my lifetime has an understanding of what it would be like to live under a different form of government —  say, a totalitarian government — been so important.

Ponder that.  Try to imagine a United States of America without the protections and guarantees of the US Constitution.  Imagine what that kind of erosion of our freedoms would be like and promise yourself that you will do all you can to keep that from happening.  Understand that there is so much to lose by sitting on the sidelines.

I have lived abroad, and it was exciting.  But, I can still remember the feeling of planting my two feet back on American soil after being away for awhile.  It was comforting to know that I was back in a place where my freedom was guaranteed. Or so I thought at the time.  This is the greatest nation on earth and, as Ben Franklin cautioned, a democracy if we can keep it.

Let’s all do whatever we can to protect what we have.  Voting in November is a good place to start.

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Thought For The Week: “You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” Indira Ghandi

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Is Bullying on the Rise in the Legal Profession?

Yes, bullying.  That repugnant behavior which most often derives from places of insecurity and needs to demonstrate power.  That bullying.  It is out of control in our society today, including among leadership, so it should not come as a surprise to see it raise its ugly head in our profession.  While perhaps not a surprise, certainly very disappointing.

So I read the results of a recent survey on the subject of bullying among colleagues in the legal profession with great concern.  I am familiar with the authors of the survey, having met one of them, as reliable and trustworthy, which only heightens my concern for survey results which include that 24% of the lawyers surveyed experienced bullying in the last year.  The survey, conducted for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism in the Fall of 2023, is summarized in this Reuters article.

I am no stranger to bullying.  It comes with the territory for an opinion writer.  Opinion writers, no matter how diligent they are in researching their topics, too often become targets of uninformed and angry people who have needs to vent.  And it can be very ugly, especially when the vehicle for the bully is faceless social media.  So I avoid that result whenever possible.  Sometimes that is regrettable because I enjoy the back and forth and the opportunity to learn through genuine differences of opinion.  But not when it is uncivil and disrespectful.  And I am not alone in this.  One very well-regarded columnist for mainstream legal media has shared her similar experiences with me.

So, I leave it to you to read the results of the survey for yourself, and I encourage you to do that.  Perhaps your reaction will be like mine and you, too, might question the definition of bullying described there.  Is it too subjective?  Does it echo vulnerability of recent generations of young lawyers who have experienced an abundance of praise and hand holding?  The difference in the occurrence of reported bullying within age groups might suggest that as a possibility.

However, if most of what is reported in the survey results appears to be genuine and accurate, it should give you pause.  If that is the case, I hope you will discuss it within your professional circles.  Keep an eye out for it and do whatever you can to combat it.  The practice of law is hard enough, and bullying must be stopped before it gets out of control and becomes accepted behavior.

What a shame it is when law starts imitating society in this way.

 

 

 

 

 

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Thought For The Week: “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Maya Angelou

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A Significant Benchmark for Best Friends at the Bar

I did some important Best Friends at the Bar research lately.  Should have done it earlier.  Sure glad I did it.

As you may know, the Best Friends at the Bar project consists of weekly blogs on the website, articles in mainstream legal media, speeches at law schools, law organizations and law firms throughout the country, and a book series for all young lawyers and their mentors and managers.

Over the more than 15 years of Best Friends at the Bar, I have written hundreds of blogs and scores of articles, including monthly columns for the ABA Journal, spoken at nearly 100 venues across the country and abroad, and written five books, which are available through leading publishers.  I am proud of that record.

But what matters most to me is how many young lawyers I have reached with my positive advice for career satisfaction and advancement.  That is much harder, if not impossible, to calculate.  I can reflect on ballrooms full of young lawyers and other members of bar associations.  I can recall law school lecture rooms with no available seating, and I can remember law firm venues equally well attended by young lawyers and their managers.  But that is not hard and fast emperical data.

So, I got busy analyzing my book royalty statements.  And, to my delight, I found that at least 20,000 of my books are in circulation.   That means that I have reached a minimum of that number of readers.  Not exactly NY Times best seller status, but the audience of young lawyers is discrete, if not niche. So 20,000 books sold is very good news from my perspective.

If you are a behind any of those statistics, thank you.  A writer without readers is a lonely existence, and a speaker without audiences is just plain embarrassing!

Best Friends at the Bar is for you, and it has been my pleasure and honor to discuss issues with you and include your concerns in my writings.  Be assured that I have been listening and have done my level best in giving you the kind of candid advice that will help to advance you in your profession — advance you and assure that you will become responsible and responsive mentors to the lawyers of the future.

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