Women in Law - do men actually care?
Aaron Baer
Providing Practical Legal Advice to Clients | Partner at Renno & Co | Co-Founder at 4L Academy | Founder of The Authentic Legal Professional | SMB M&A | Tech | Crypto/Blockchain | Neurodiversity Stuff
Sometimes I find Women In Law events can be a little awkward for men.
There's often an unarticulated question about whether men are invited - i.e. if they were to show up, whether that would be seen as a bad thing.
So some men, in an effort to do what they believe is correct, don't attend.
Which is a shame, because let's be real for a second. The legal profession is largely run by men.
I'm not saying that's a good thing - I'm just saying that at present, the majority of the people with the most power in this profession belong to a certain demographic group.
Which is bad for all sorts of reasons, including the fact that at many law schools, the number of women actually outnumber the men - meaning we have an awful lot of women entering this profession.
So if the people in power are not attending events where they could learn about how the experiences of their colleagues - and are not otherwise seeking out opportunities to listen and learn - then we have a problem.
It's also a problem when people in power aren't creating ways for their colleagues to honestly articulate their concerns or doing their best to create psychological safety in the workplace.
(Yes, I am aware that gender is a spectrum and I've using very binary language here. And I'm also aware that I'm taking a very charitable view on why some men may not attend these events.)
That's how we end up with the crisis we're currently in - and it's an absolute disaster.
If you are sitting there thinking 'everything seems fine, what is this guy who loves to complain talking about?' then I encourage you to read the ABA report 'In Their Words' about why women lawyers are leaving their law firms and the profession.
Surely it's not your firm or your organization - it's just all the others that have problems, right?
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It's not an easy read. And it's just one of many publications that all point to the same issue: that there are serious systemic problems and biases in this profession.
For The Authentic Lawyer Summit , I want to be crystal clear about our Women in Law sessions on November 8th.
Men are not only welcome, but they are expected to attend. Women and everyone else are obviously very welcome as well.
We're taking away the excuse of 'I didn't know I was allowed to go'. We'll also ignore the past 'how was I supposed to know these were issues?' stuff.
This is online. It's free. And we have an amazing group of speakers lined up.
None of whom are shy about talking about how they feel.
About how this system has adversely affected them. About how men and others in this profession need to step it up. And how firms can start really caring about these issues and set women up for success.
I'm far from an expert in this area.
I'll be there to listen, to learn, and to take action on my end.
Are you open to doing the same?
Aaron
Learn more and sign-up here
Co-Founder at Lawcadia | Empowering, supporting, & amplifying your in-house legal team | Award winning legal technology
2 年Thank you Aaron Baer - I agree with so much of this. Women in Law awards are also a great vehicle to elevate and promote the success of women in the profession. You can't be who you can't see.
CEO and Patent Agent at Raja Technologies Inc. | Partner at Innovate LLP | Cofounder and Director at Spiricept | Cofounder and IP/Data Science Advisor at Prosperytics | Vice-Chair at IIPCC Greater Toronto Area Chapter
2 年Aaron Baer Although I'm not a lawyer, I am happy that you included this: "Men are not only welcome, but they are expected to attend." It's useful to have that clarity, as I have the experience of being in an awkward position for a different reason: I once got an invitation for an Indigenous Entrepreneurship summit held by the City of Toronto. I thought that since I was invited, was a resident of Toronto and worked with entrepreneurs, I would go for the event. One of the Indigenous attendees got upset with the number of non-Indigenous attendees at the event, as she felt that Indigenous voices were not being heard. Since I know something about the troubled history of Indigenous people being silenced or having others making decisions for them, it was awkward for me. So I stopped going to such events. I also told the City of Toronto to stop inviting me for such events.
Business Opportunity Connector | Collaborator | Community Builder | Business Development Strategist | Former Lawyer | Assisting Litigators with Asset Tracing, Expert Witnesses, Cybersecurity, Forensics, Data & Analytics
2 年I agree that events labelled as “women in law” etc. can be confusing. Some are designed to lift women up and there definitely should be male allies there but some are “women only”, as in a space for women to get together and support each other. Clear indications on the invitation such as “allies welcome” would help to indicate to all the type of event. The most powerful changes in law will come from male allies who understand the inequity. Thanks for doing what you do, Aaron and being an ally.
Jedi of uncovering your natural gifts | Coach, Advisor, Speaker | TEDx Speaker | Host: What You're About podcast | Fmr GC
2 年This feels like a special summit you’ve built Aaron Baer. Looking fwd to it and thx for all you’re doing to make our industry better.
Legal Industry Change Agent | Client Service, Growth, & Innovation Architect | Data Enthusiast
2 年So much this!!! Thank you for calling attention to this issue, Aaron. We just had our first Womens event in NYC earlier this week, and I was THRILLED to see a strong showing of men in the room. It’s so important if we’re going to move forward.