I am not a fan of quotas, and I do not want to see us go down that path to assure women positions of leadership in this country. The Supreme Court has been chipping away at quotas since the Bakke decision of the 1970s, including the New Haven firefighters decision handed down by the Court in 2009. The imposition of quotas does not seem to have gone too well for academia or in the public sector, and the winds are blowing in the direction of doing away with quotas in other settings if the Supreme Court has its way. However, here I am not looking at quotas as a legal issue but, rather, as a practical matter and an indicator of what is best to advance women in our profession.
The UK and other European Union countries are toying with mandates for women on corporate boards. The British Parliament is considering a law that requires at least 3 women on corporate boards of a certain size, and the EU seems to be following suit. I like the result, but I do not like the pathway to that result. Here is why.
It seems to me that women lawyers want to get where they need to go by being qualified and being recognized for their merit. History shows us that quotas cause more resentment than respect, and such a result would be regrettable. It does not matter how high you rise if you are not taken seriously when you get there.
Although I applaud the efforts of women general counsels in corporations and companies in encouraging the inclusion of women lawyers on their outside counsel teams, I want to believe that those general counsels want women of merit and talent to safeguard their corporate entities and handle their legal affairs. In other words, they do not want women just because they are women.
We do not need quotas, even though we know that the progress in seeing women reach positions of leadership and management in both law and business has been painfully slow. But we cannot lose faith. Women lawyers are very talented, and they will get where they need to go by being the best lawyers they can be and becoming noticed and promoted for their talents. Let’s do it the old-fashioned way instead of by mandate that creates resentment and probably leads to being marginalized even if we make it to the top. Being a token is never a good thing.
Let’s not follow the UK and the EU on this one. After all, there has been some suspect decision-making on economic and financial issues coming from our friends overseas lately, and our country is trying hard to recover from the global effects. We don’t need any copycat action on quotas. This is not an Italian bag or a Swiss watch that we would be knocking off. This is our professional reputation as women lawyers.
We are women, and we know how to work hard and how to achieve and succeed. As Helen Reddy said, “I am woman, hear me roar.”
And, roar we will! Even without quotas.
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