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Family Responsibilities Discrimination in Law Firms

By Cara E. Greene and Christopher Willett
In her first years working as an associate in a New York City law firm, Jan Sigmon received professional evaluations identifying her work as 'terrific,' but her career took a quick turn after she announced she was pregnant. Rumors swirled that she planned to take advantage of the firm by remaining full-time while working shorter hours, and she was isolated from firm activities. After her return from maternity leave, her evaluation identified her as a 'problem.'

At another law firm, when management discovered that Dawn Gallina, an associate, had a small child, a managing partner spoke to her about how women lawyers have extra work demands that are difficult to balance with a family. After she complained about being treated differently, the firm told Gallina to decide whether she wanted to be a 'successful mommy or a successful lawyer.'

Joann Trezza worked for over ten years in the legal department at a multinational company, moving from staff attorney to senior staff attorney. Nevertheless, when a managing attorney position became available, the company did not consider her for the position because her supervisors assumed that, because she had a family, she would not want to travel. An executive at the company told her that he did not see how working mothers could be both good workers and good mothers.

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