As a young attorney, hearing stories of female Big Law partners proudly working on deals during active labor was fairly common—a shining example of the whatever-it-takes attitude that many firms and clients traditionally expected from their leaders. Short of being inspiring, these examples were more indicative of an environment that caused many women lawyers to rethink their career paths before they reached the upper echelons of the legal profession.
Today, even some of the most visible, high-level professional women have admitted that they were wrong to suggest that all women should “lean in” to their careers in order to succeed, but the traditional model persists. The legal blogosphere is replete with advice on how female attorneys can rise in their careers: be assertive and advocate for yourself; network and be extroverted, and focus on face time and networking. For many, that could read as: “change your personality if you want to succeed.”
