 Happy End of Summer! Poised on the edge of the carefree days of summer and the promise of new beginnings. Bittersweet but exciting. WHAT’S UP AT BEST FRIENDS AT THE BAR? THE NEW BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!! What Millennial Lawyers Want: A Bridge from the Past to the Future of Law Practice will be released by Wolters Kluwer/Aspen Publishers on September 1st. Full of new revelations and vital information for millennial lawyers and those who lead them, the book both informs and entertains on issues critical to the survival of law firms. Millennial Generation lawyers are the future of the law profession, and current leadership needs to know what they think and how to develop them into effective leaders. What Millennial Lawyers Want:
Here is a sneak peak at excerpts from the Foreword by Linda Myers, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP: Millennials: We love to poke fun at them, but no one can deny their power and influence on the world today. Much has been written and said about those born after 1980 — and some of it has not been positive. Time Magazine has labeled them the “ME ME ME Generation.” As business leaders, we no longer can speculate about how this generation will acclimate to the working world. Millennials are not just a distant fear or the source of our eye-rolling. They are an ever-expanding part of our daily professional existence. They are our colleagues and subordinates, as well as our clients and prospects. The time has come to either embrace or reject what Millennial lawyers bring to our businesses, but we cannot maintain the status quo. As we learn in Susan Blakely’s new book, the “ME Generation” has grown up. With their growth came change — both in how they see the world and how WE should. For firms to successfully absorb Millennial lawyers, we need to gain a clear understanding of how to motivate this particular group relative to other constituencies. This is not a luxury. It is a business imperative for all law firms leaders. ON THE ROAD AND IN THE NEWS Confirmed future speaking engagements include:
Look for press about the new book and Best Friends at the Bar in: “Book Roundup” in the October 2018 edition of The Virginia Lawyer; “The Women of Georgetown Law,” Georgetown Law magazine, Fall 2018 edition; and “Good Reads,” UW-Madison alumni on-line. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS Women Trial Lawyers In “What it Takes to Be a Trial Lawyer If You’re Not a Man” in the most recent issue of The Atlantic, the author Lara Bazelon addresses what she identifies as “the stubborn cultural biases female attorneys must navigate to simply do their jobs.” Citing examples of the “double standard and a double bind,” — avoiding being seen as “too ‘soft’ or too ‘strident,’ too ‘aggressive’ or ‘not aggressive enough'” — the author goes on to describe the kind of indignities that women lawyers have had to endure and the extreme scrutiny women lawyers are subjected to on issues of appropriate dress, appropriate hair styles, and the pitches of their voices, among others. The author also acknowledges that being a woman can be a positive attribute for lawyers. “Being seen as a woman first and a lawyer second” can give women an advantage over their male adversaries. Although it happens sparingly, I know it well. As a young associate, I was chosen for the trial team because I was a woman who would not create the impression of powerful male attorneys beating up on the female plaintiff in a jury trial. It was a great growth experience, and I was lucky to have it. The article is worth reading for all those who think that indignities and biases like this are things of the past in our “oh-so-evolved” gender world. They are not. They continue to happen far too often, and effective solutions need strong leadership. RBG — Have You Seen It? If not, tune into CNN at 9 PM ET on Monday, September 3rd. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a force! LSAT No Longer the Only Show in Town Although the LSAT has ruled since 1948, it now has competition. The number of top law schools currently accepting GRE and GMAT scores in lieu of LSAT scores is growing weekly and now numbers more than 20, including Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, Northwestern, UCLA, Penn, and George Washington. However, the ABA has punted on whether to allow other test results in lieu of LSAT scores. At the ABA Annual Conference in August, a proposal to support alternative scores failed to pass, and the issue remains in limbo — putting applicants in a bind. That’s a Wrap! Are you interested in an event at your law firm, law organization or law school? See my website for venues where I have spoken and endorsements from clients, and contact me for program descriptions and scheduling on subjects including:
You also are invited to Be My Guest! by contributing a column to a future newsletter. It is a good way to connect with my readers. Buy My Books from Amazon and Wolters Kluwer/Aspen Publishers direct from my website. All of my blogs are reprinted on my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages, and most of them also are reprinted on the Ms JD website. Click “share” and re-tweet to move them on to others and show your support for BFAB. Keep up with me on:
Watch for my next newsletter in October 2018. Until then, turn to the Best Friends at the Bar website to keep up with recent happenings on the blogs and social media there. See you in the Fall. Be happy, be safe!
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