I began my legal career representing injured railroad workers. The clients were predominantly male, and the lawyers working in that space were also mostly male. While I learned a tremendous amount from those highly skilled and experienced lawyers, I didn’t feel like I had found my niche.
That all changed when I made the switch to a different firm, working in the Mass Torts department. Working on large case teams, appealed to me, as it offered the opportunity to work not only with the fantastic lawyers at my firm, but also with experienced and talented lawyers across the country. Taking on big pharma and huge medical device companies brought a sense of fulfillment that I am so blessed to have found in my career. The longer I worked in the Mass Torts space, the more I became aware that the lawyers in leadership positions in these large cases were again predominantly male. And the attorneys at the plaintiff’s lawyer conferences I was attending were also largely men.
I wondered what could be done? What was the impediment to women entering into and/or staying in this type of legal practice. My personal experience has been that having women on legal teams is generally a value add, so why were they not equally represented in the field?
Never one to stand by and do nothing, I teamed up with two other fantastic female lawyers to plan the Women Trial Lawyer’s Conference. Our first conference took place in 2017, and last month we had our 7 th annual conference. The event is designed to appeal to women lawyers of all experience levels, who represent injured individuals. The programming is designed to develop our skills and knowledge, enhance our networks, and try and address barriers to the profession for women lawyers. The Conference is now in its 8th year and going stronger than ever.
In June of this year, I had the honor to join Anapol Weiss, which as a majority female- owned firm, takes its commitment to empowering women seriously. Representing women who are injured by corporations is at the bedrock of what we do. I see the Women Trial Lawyer’s Conference as furthering the mission of Anapol Weiss, and I couldn’t be prouder.
