CELEBRATING 100 YEARS OF WOMEN

WELCOME FROM Dean Colin Crawford

In 1911, N. Almee Courtright graduated from what is now the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville.

It’s important to note that Ms. Courtright graduated with a law degree nine years before the 19th Amendment granted her the right to vote. Such examples of gender inequality, of course, are layered throughout U.S. history and indeed continue in the legal profession today.

According to the 2020 American Bar Association National Lawyer Population Survey, just 37 percent of our country’s attorneys are women. We know that women are less likely to be equity partners or managing partners and that their billing rates and compensation fall short of men’s. Women make up about a third of state and federal court judges.

As a law school, we know that we have the opportunity to effect change from the ground level. I am proud to report that, for the third year in a row, women outnumber men in Louisville Law’s incoming class. Of course, admitting women to law school is just the first step.

Also this year, I am proud to introduce two new full-time faculty members: Professor Shavonnie Carthens and Professor Sarah Ochs. With their hiring, the faculty is now 44 percent female.

This photograph from 1942 features, from left to right, law librarian Pearl Weiler (later Von Allmen), and law students Chester Hart, William (Bill) Harvin, and Shadrach (Shad) Boaz. Von Allmen was awarded faculty status in 1965, making her the School of Law’s first female faculty member.

In this edition of the Brandeis Brief, we are celebrating the achievements of women in the legal profession and their impact on our country.

In addition, we cannot discuss U.S. history without discussing Black history.

Indeed, while we celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, we cannot do so without also acknowledging that this amendment — and the suffrage movement — did not guarantee equal access for Black women, who were still widely disenfranchised thanks to racist state voting laws.

Our country has a long and troubled racial history, and this year’s ongoing protests against police brutality and in support of racial justice have again pushed this ugly truth to the forefront of our national conversation. As lawyers, we know that our profession has long been complicit in upholding racist laws. But legal change has also helped change those laws. As a result, I deeply believe that the role of lawyers is more important than ever. We have played — and will continue to play — a meaningful role in fighting injustice and advocating for equity.

In these pages, you will find stories of students and alums doing just that. You will also find snapshots of life as a law school during a global pandemic, key events from before we had ever heard the phrase “socially distant” and updates from our faculty.

I hope you enjoy what you find inside. As always, please contact me at colin.crawford@louisville.edu with questions, updates or just to say hello. One of my greatest joys as Dean is connecting with alums.