Ann Israel is the legal profession's Dear Abby. A New York legal recruiter since 1979, Ann is a past president of the National Association of Legal Search Consultants. Advice for the Lawlorn is updated every week.

Dear Readers: I am always so pleased when I receive feedback from you that allows me to give another point of view. Last week's column from "Tough Enough" seemed to me to represent a case of someone who needed to figure out if she belonged in the world of litigation. In her post, "Tough Enough" noted in part,

I am a second-year, female litigation associate at a BigLaw. During the last couple of months, I heard from two partners one male and one female who said that I am too nice and one of whom was actually agitated that I was accommodating to opposing counsel by telling them that we would provide them with something which we had an obligation to give them. I am worried that if I want to advance as a litigator in my firm I need stop giving off the nice girl impression.

However, a kind reader by the name of Cynthia Thomas Calvert who is the co-director for an organization called the Project for Attorney Retention sent a very insightful, eye-opening e-mail to me. I asked her permission to reprint her message to me and she has been gracious enough to grant it, although with the reservation that any significant quotes from the book would require permission from the ABA.

Hopefully there isn't too much from the book here but just enough to whet your appetite so that you will all want to read the book and also perhaps find out more about the Project for Attorney Retention. Much thanks to Ms. Calvert! And I don't know if Ms. Calvert's opinion is the final word on what is happening to "Tough Enough," but it certainly is a viable and possible theory.

Any other ideas out there about what may have caused these two partners to accuse her of being too nice? No matter what, we wish her best of luck with her career.

Sincerely,
Ann M. Israel
President, Ann Israel & Associates

Hi, Ann --

I saw the associate's situation a little differently. It looked to me like she was facing some stereotyping and could have used some information about cognitive bias in law firms and how to combat it.

At the Project for Attorney Retention (www.pardc.org), we study and advocate for the advancement of women lawyers. One of our recent projects was re-writing the Fair Measure Manual for the ABA Commission on Women about bias-free evaluations. The second chapter of that book provides a good overview of how bias typically arises in law firms. Here's an excerpt, in case you don't have the book:

Not only is the lawyer schema male. It also is masculine. That is, the personality traits commonly assumed to make a good lawyer (competent, confident, and assertive) are culturally associated with masculinity.[FOOTNOTE 1] The fact that the senior positions in law firms are overwhelmingly male feeds the sense that lawyers are "naturally" men, particularly because men often see traditionally male jobs as requiring exclusively masculine traits. (In sharp contrast, women tend to see such jobs as requiring a combination of masculine and feminine traits.)[FOOTNOTE 2] Thus men will tend to see the job of a litigator as aggressive and combative -- although a litigator who is soft-spoken but commanding can be equally effective.[FOOTNOTE 3]

. . .

SPECIFIC TYPES OF GENDER BIAS

. . .

Moreover, many behaviors considered inappropriate for women are precisely those deemed necessary in order to be seen as competent in a traditionally male job, thereby creating a double bind. If women behave in traditionally feminine ways their competence is undervalued, whereas if they behave in traditionally masculine ways their interpersonal skills are derogated and their mental health questioned.[FOOTNOTE 4] "Because advancement in organizations depends not only on competence but also on social acceptance and approval," negative reactions to women who seek to achieve in "areas that traditionally are off-limits to them can be lethal when they strive to get ahead."[FOOTNOTE 5]

::::FOOTNOTES::::

FN1 Elizabeth H. Gorman, "Gender Stereotypes, Same-Gender Preferences, and Organizational Variation in the Hiring of Women: Evidence from Law Firms," 70 AM. SOC. R. 702, 709 (2005).

FN2 Peter Glick, "Trait-Based and Sex-Based Discrimination in Occupational Prestige, Occupational Salary, and Hiring," 25 SEX ROLES 351, 373 (1991).

FN3 Gorman, supra note 16, at 710 (litigators seen as masculine and as combative, citing Jennifer L. Pierce, "Gender Trials," 52-53, 60 (1996).

FN4 Burgess & Borgida, supra note 37, at 686 (citing Susan T. Fiske et al., "What Constitutes a Scientific Review? A Majority Report to Barrett and Morris," 17 L. & HUMAN BEHAVIOR 217, 218 (1993).

FN5 Heilman, "Description and Prescription," supra note 45, at 661.

 
It may very well be, as you said, that she is too quiet. But I would raise the possibility that she is being judged by different standards and give her some ideas for addressing it.

Sorry to go on at length; as you may have guessed, I was once in her shoes. I was a soft-spoken litigator who had her abilities questioned, until I went on to rack up a string of clients who were very happy with the results I achieved for them.

Sincerely,
Cynthia Calvert