Women have come a long way professionally in the past several decades – progress that is especially visible in the legal profession and on the bench.
Six women judges discussed the challenges and successes of their legal careers during a March 29 USC Law panel talk, “Female leadership in the court,” sponsored by the Women’s Law Association and the Career Services Office.
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| Justice Candace Cooper '73 |
While some of the hurdles for women pursuing a judicial career still exist, they can be overcome, the judges agreed.
Panel members included U.S. District Court Judge Dale Fischer and USC Law alumna Candace Cooper ’73, presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal, who at her first firm interview ended up asking all the questions because the attorney wasn’t interested in hiring a woman.
“There have been times when being a woman and being a minority have worked to my advantage, and there have been times when being a woman and being a minority have worked to my disadvantage,” Cooper said.
“The biases are all still there,” she said. “It doesn’t make you a victim, but you should be aware.”
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| Judges Lum, Sanders and Wasserman |
“They didn’t really know how to deal with it because nobody had ever done it before,” said Lum, who requested leave when pregnant with her second child five years ago. “And I didn’t know what to ask for.”
She worried about being perceived as needing a lot of time away, Lum said, and decided to take three months. Since then, even male judges have taken family leave.
Maria Stratton, the first woman Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, said that when she went before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal for her appointment, she was asked why she wore her hair so short – a question that probably wouldn’t have been asked of a man.
“It made me more anxious to get the job because I wanted to prove to those people that a woman could do the job, even though a woman had never done the job before,” Stratton said.
Also participating in the discussion were Superior Court Judge Fumiko Wasserman and Superior Court Judge Glenda Sanders, who briefly resigned from her firm job after having a baby, only to return and make partner.
Today, women can slow down the track to making partner and be a senior associate for a while, but in the 1980s, that was unheard of.
“It was harder for women … in some respects, because it was up or out,” Sanders said. “You had seven years to make partner.”
Most of the judges said they began their careers wearing short haircuts and suits virtually indistinguishable from those worn by their male counterparts to appear “professional.” Judge Wasserman said she was often mistaken as “spouse” rather than “judge” when at conferences or receptions.
“You have to learn how to present yourself as a professional so people will respond to you,” she said.
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