 1 Susan Blakely Susan Blakely Speaks at National Conference for College Women Student Leaders June 1, 2012, University of MD

About Susan Blakely  Lawyer with 25 years experience at all levels of private practice and in the public sector  Mother of two children—One in law school and the other interested!  Wife of a fellow litigator  Author of Best Friends at the Bar (Wolters Kluwer/Aspen Publishers, 2009 and 2012)  Speaker on issues related to women and the law 2

 3 Published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers, November 2009 Foreword by the Honorable Margaret Sweeney, US Court of Federal Claims

4 Best Friends at the Bar Contributor Pool  41 female private practice and public sector attorneys  7 female judges from local, state and federal courts  3 female law school deans and faculty  1 male former law school dean and private practice attorney  9 law school deans and directors of career services  1 female managing partner of an international law firm  4 male managing partners of international law firms  18 states and the District of Columbia represented

Today I will Talk About  The Problems and Hard Choices for Women Lawyers  The Quest for Balance and What That Means  The Importance of Having a Personal Definition of Success  Legal Imperatives and Law Practice Myths  The Challenges of a Male Dominated Profession; and  The Changes on the Horizon for Law Firms and What That Means for Women Lawyers 5

6 Troublesome Statistics  46% of women lawyers leave the profession mid-career— three times as many as men  76% of women lawyers in law firms leave that practice in the first five years  Fewer than 20% of the partners in law firms today are women

Recent Studies and Commitment to Change  National Association of Women Lawyers, Report on Retention and Promotion of Women In Law Firms, November 2011: Statistics on number of women partners in law firms has not changed in five years since NAWL started the annual survey;  Austin Manifesto, Women’s Power Summit on Law and Leadership at University of Texas Law: Data on women in positions of leadership were discouraging and showed much less progress than had been anticipated. 7

Do Not Leave Before You Leave!  Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Google, speaking to a group of women on the subject of women advancing in business and why we have so few women leaders.  ook-coo.html ook-coo.html  8

9 A Better Approach Careful Planning + Good Personal and Professional Choices = Satisfying and Successful Careers

10 Women Helping Women  Former Secretary of State, Madeline Albright:  "There's a place in hell reserved for women who don't help other women."

11 Chart Your Own Course  Define Yourself  Have Realistic Expectations  Craft a Personal Definition of Success….. And  Celebrate Your Successes!!!

Achieving Your Goals  Always remember: You cannot get further down the road UNLESS you are ON THE ROAD! 12

13 Success Can Be  Full time practice and partnership track  Alternative work schedule and partnership track  Part-time practice and part- time personal life  Solo practice, even out of your home….. And more!

14 Myth: You Can Have It All  You can have some of it all the time, all of it some of the time but it is the rare woman lawyer who can have all of it all of the time.

The NEW BALANCE for Women Lawyers  Old Balance: Work/Home and Family  New Balance: Work/SELF/ Home and Family  Happiness on both sides of the balance requires the NEW Balance  Protecting your personal identity and taking care of yourself are critical to achieving your personal and professional goals. 15

Finding the New Balance  Identify what you really love to do;  Decide how serious you are about doing it;  Maintain your personal identity in whatever you do;  Take care of your personal needs;  Make time less of an enemy by getting the help you need;  Remember the importance of friendships; and  Be the best lawyer you can be and do it with true grit. 16

Transition Profiles  Female managing partner of large international law firm;  In-house legal counsel of Fortune 500 company;  Inspector General of the US Department of Education;  VP and General Counsel of New York University;  Former VP of Overseas Private Investment Corporation and current Professor at University of Michigan Law; and  Assistant Dean for Career Services at a major law school. 17

18 Myth: The Economy Will Rebound and Law Firms Will Remain Unchanged  The wrong mentality: The practice of law will return to business as usual  Firms have changed in response to the economy, and some of these changes will be permanent

19 Myth: The Old Boys’ Network Is a Thing of the Past

Minimize the Gotcha Moments  Understand that “No” Is an Answer  Be a Team Player  Watch Out For Emotions and Temper  Treat Support Staff Well  Party Hardy at You Peril; and  Dress Appropriately and Watch Out for Office Romances 20

Best Friends at the Bar Will Teach You  How to find good MENTORS and Sponsors  How to ASK FOR HELP when you need it without compromising your position  How to find a comfort zone for PROMOTING WORK  How to maintain your DIGNITY in the FACE OF OPPOSITION; and  How to make a GRACEFUL EXIT if and when you need to 21

Best Friends at the Bar Also Will Teach You  To take CREDIT FOR YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS  The VALUE OF NETWORKING; and  The importance of finding BALANCE in your life. Learning these things will put you on the road to independence and success in your practice. 22

23 Marian Wright Edelman, Founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund  “You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day… Don’t assume a door is closed; push on it. Don’t assume if it was closed yesterday that it is closed today. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall down, it just matters how many times you get up!”

To Achieve Satisfying and Successful Careers HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF AND BE YOUR BEST ADVOCATE THINK ABOUT THE ISSUES EARLY AND OFTEN MAKE GOOD PLANS AND INFORMED CHOICES HAVE A PERSONAL DEFINITION OF SUCCESS AND CHART YOUR OWN COURSE.  B 25

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