Women are Essential . . .
. . . to the credibility of the country’s justice system. So says Beverly McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada. Speaking to the Canadian chapter of the International Association of Women Judges yesterday, McLachlin made the point that female judges make for “happier courts” by doing all sorts of things that male judges are not inclined to do — like celebrating other judges’ birthdays. But their role is far more essential than that: demonstrating Canada’s commitment to equality.
McLachlin says female attorneys are bounded not only by some glass ceiling; they’re also held down by what she calls “the sticky floor.” They get stuck with cases in family court while the male attorneys are handling high-profile corporate mergers. The result is that when it comes time to select judges, well-qualified women aren’t considered because they don’t have the requisite experience.
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Beth Slagle, a partner at Meyer, Unkovic & Scott — and one of only three women at the 60-attorney firm — knows about the sticky floor. She’s been exposed to it (x57). She joined the firm 16 years ago — fresh out of law school — and quickly disccovered that male lawyers tend to be about as enlightened as shoe polish.
She’s onto something new — networking events for professional women only — No Men Allowed! Women business executives get to associate with one another without having to worry about men acting like men and ruining the fun.
Sounds like she’s onto something that a good many Client Relationship Managers at law firms might want to consider — the Good Old Gals network. It’s as sexist as the Good Old Boys network, but there’s no cigar smoke, and as more and more women move into executive positions at big companies that — more than likely — will have big legal matters to deal with . . . .