Madigan getting sworn in as NYSBA president by Hon. Thomas McAvoy ’64 last June in Cooperstown, N.Y.
judges; discussion re: Lopez Torres; SDO’s time with the Queen of England during the Jamestown Anniversary program; book signing by SDO for my
Tour of Phoenix Art Museum with SDO.
Travel to Paradise Valley to home of SDO for tea and conversation about our respective athletic
flex time, work at home option, part time/non-equity partner track, a Women’s Marketing Group, wellness programs etc. It is a superb model of what is possible. Advice to Young Female Lawyers
Be courageous in making choices about your career and personal life. Don’t be reluctant to change direction as your needs and interests, as well as that of your family, evolve over time. Make work/life balance a priority. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the money. Toot your own horn, as no one else will do it for you. Get out there and network. Don’t be shy about self-marketing. And don’t be swayed by those who suggest (as others did to me) that you can’t be a part-time lawyer. Trust your gut. Seek mentors in all areas of your life. Become a mentor when the opportunity arises. Finally, take care of yourself. And then, as is our time-honored tradition as lawyers, take care of those who cannot take care of themselves.
Drinks around the firepit at the Paradise Valley Country Club and then dinner.
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Brown bag lunch with SDO and federal
as well as effective training or coaching in client development. It takes different kinds of lawyers to create a healthy law firm culture—“minders, binders, grinders and finders.” Each contribute to the whole. My firm is unusual in that we have a bonus pool for significant community and bar association service. It’s not huge, but it sends a powerful message about what we value as a firm. All of us, from the top down, are community leaders. Twelve of us are former county bar presidents, five of us former NYSBA Section chairs, and the firm is now supporting me at my full-time volunteer job as NYSBA president. All this doesn’t happen by accident. It’s about communicating and modeling that core firm value. We believe it makes us better lawyers and better human beings. We have the largest percentage of women partners and associates in our region, and have had progressive work/life policies, some of which go back over 25 years, such as part time,
6:00 p.m.
Noon
Growth in minimum billable hours continues to increase, especially in large New York City law firms. I have always been a
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Troubling trends today
huge advocate of balancing work and life. The structure of large law firms make that balance very hard. An inhospitable climate in large law firms continues, especially for women lawyers of color, which the ABA documents in a report called the “Visible Invisibility.” We give lip service to running law firms like a real business. But what business would tolerate the rate of associate turnover in most big city firms? And what business model would ignore the needs of 50% of their professional workforce, ie. women? “If lawyers brought the same imagination and creativity to this problem that they bring to the problems of their clients, this problem could be solved,” suggested the former Pace Law Dean Stephen Friedman. A law firm culture that honors professionalism and quality of life, as well as profits, requires a top-down commitment. Firms also need to commit to formal, accountable mentoring programs for associates and women partners,
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women’s team practicing or in a game and I want to jump out of my Jeep and join the scrum. But I am 54, so I think not. I have many fond memories of Albany Law’s gym, which served as an essential part of our stress management program. Surely we’re the only law school in the country with a gym in the middle of it. I played on the women’s intercollegiate team my first year, but didn’t find it very competitive, so I switched to men’s intramurals, joining the team “Five Easy Pieces.” Professors Watkins (“the Watt”) and Welsh were frequent spectators. For women of my generation, there were four predictors of professional success for women: 1) Strong relationship with your father or a male mentor; 2) Girl Scouts; 3) Same sex high school or college; and 4) Athletics. I was fortunate to have all four.
Return to hotel.
exploits.
bar leader friends and NYSBA key staff.
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