I participated on a panel last night at George Mason University Law School. The event was sponsored by the Women’s Law Association, and the other panelists were a former Administrative Judge for the Department of Interior and a member of the Career Services staff at the law school. There was a lot of interesting information about the practice experience of the panelists and some candid observations about the past and future for women in the law.
One of the comments that caught my attention was about the level of commitment to law practice by women lawyers. There was concern expressed that many young women are not as committed as they need to be, especially in large firm practice. Commitment in that setting is about as demanding as it gets in law practice, and everyone cannot deliver the high level of commitment that is required, like 80 hour weeks and weekend work as the rule instead of the exception.
It is something to think about when you are choosing a practice. In fact, it is essential that you address the issue early so that there are no surprises and disappointments later. Remember that the good career plans are the ones that work best for you as an individual.
So get to work on that career plan. There are so many choices and so many different settings to choose from.
