1878 F IR be ST LA g (lat in in W C wit er Fr Univ LAS h 1 ase ers SES 3 s r) H ity tud ent all s.
FROM TEACHER TO LAWYER
leaders responded positively, and the rest is history. The female graduates of the 1970s were pioneers in every sense of the word. Their hard work and achievements assured that later graduates would not face the same obstacles. A good example is Judge Kathryn Vratil, L’75, whose hiring as a clerk by the highly regarded U.S. District Court Judge Earl O’Connor sent a powerful message to both bench and bar regarding opportunities for women. She went on to a distinguished career as a practitioner and judge, ultimately succeeding O’Connor as the first female judge on the U.S. District Court for Kansas. A special group of pioneers were “second career” women who left professions traditionally open to women, such as teaching and nursing, and entered the law. Judge Jean Shepherd, L’77, took this path when she left K-12 teaching to attend KU Law. She went on to excel as a prosecutor, private practitioner, Kansas District Court judge, and nationally recognized leader in juvenile law. I believe the presence of these “second career” women, together with many well-qualified traditional students, may have given the mid- and late-70s classes the greatest depth of talent in the school’s history. The ’70s produced many other pioneers who led the way for women. A few examples and the positions to which they ascended: Judge Mary Beck Briscoe, L’73, chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit; Catherine McGuire, L’73, counsel, SEC Division of Trading & Markets; Victoria Thomas, L’75, general counsel, University of Kansas; Linda Legg, L’75, chief counsel, SBC Communications; Judge Linda Trigg, L’76, Johnson County District Court judge and president, Kansas Bar Association; Jennifer Gille Bacon, L’76, shareholder at Polsinelli PC and president, Missouri Bar Association; Lydia Beebe, L’77, corporate secretary and chief governance officer, Chevron Corporation; Sheila
10 KU LAW MAGAZINE
JUDGE JEAN SHEPHERD,
L’77, was one of the KU Law women pioneers of the 1970s. Like several of her female classmates, Shepherd pursued law as a second career, leaving behind the fields traditionally open to women at the time. When she entered law school in 1974, Shepherd was a nontraditional student, a single mother and former high school teacher. The campus had changed since she earned her undergraduate degree in 1968. Women were allowed to wear jeans to class, and students were consumed with the Vietnam War and civil rights, making for a much more “aware and involved” student life. “I could never have described what would have been the perfect career, my true vocation, but that’s what I ended up doing. My teaching background was instrumental in that happening because I always valued areas of the law that related to children and families and thought that’s where a difference could be made for the future. “I think teaching was the best training I had for being in control of a courtroom. There’s a lot of teaching that goes on in the courtroom, explaining people’s rights
Judge Jean Shepherd, L’77
and the process. There’s a look that students and adults get when they’re nodding their heads but don’t understand. You need to recognize that look and rephrase things, find other words to use so people can get some clarity. Sometimes the excuses people use are like all those excuses for why homework didn’t get done, only at a different level. “In teaching, you learn how to act like you’re in charge even though you’re not sure you are, and there were certainly moments like that in the courtroom. You make important decisions and you mete out consequences that are hopefully appropriate, but people have to understand the process. If people feel they’ve been heard and if they feel they understand what happened, there are few complaints.” — Emily Sharp