CBA Record July-August 2018

Y O U N G L A W Y E R S J O U R N A L

Expanding Our Virtual Brand Introducing @theBar, the YLS Blog

On April 13The Chicago Bar Association and the Northern District of Illinois Federal Court hosted the second annual conference entitled May it Please the Court: SymposiumonWomen Lawyers in the Courtroom. Some startling statistics were addressed at the conference: –Female attorneys make up 37% of all practic- ing lawyers. –Women make up 20% of all general counsel attorneys in the country. –In the United Kingdom, companies have to report pay data. However, those same com- panies with offices in the U.S. do not have to report pay data. –In ADR settings, only approximately 15% of neutral arbitrators are female. The pay gap exists. It’s real. It exists right here in the legal community. Just this past May, seven female law professors settled with the University of Denver, Sturm Col- lege of Law, for $2.6 million after filing an EEOC complaint and ultimately a lawsuit in 2016. Professor Lucy Marsh learned that after 31 years at the law school, she remained the lowest-paid professor on staff even though she was one of the most experienced. According to the complaint, female full professors’ median salary was about $11,000 less than their male coun- terparts, and the average female professor made nearly $16,000 less than male full professors. It is true that the legal field is rooted in tradition and history. However, the gender pay gap is about as archaic as the carbon paper still used to draft copies of the orders at the Daley Center. It is time for the legal community to start a dialogue about eliminating the pink elephant in the room. Svetlana Gitman is an associate at Bruce Farrel Dorn and Associates and is currently Secretary/Treasurer of the CBA's Young Lawyers Section

By Lindsey L. Purdy A lot has changed at the Richard J. Daley Center since 1980, and, I’m not just referencing the win- dows replaced as a result of the classic car chase scene in the“Blues Brothers.”Although I wasn’t there, rumor has it there were a far more significant number of associate attorneys at that time. Occasionally, those of us newer to the profession will have the opportunity to hear not only about the epic legal battles that took place nearly 40 years ago, but also about the connections made as a result of spend- ing a significant amount of time before the court. Unfortunately, those opportunities for our generation of attorneys have dwindled as a result of the changing landscape of the practice of law. To say that technology has altered the legal profession is axiomatic. Gone are the days of the opinion letter, and here are the days of the five-minute e-mail–or the two-minute text message. Partners demand quick responsiveness, and clients expect it. Beyond the instantaneous nature of such communications, however, the ability of myriad devices to store these communications has only heightened the stakes of litigation. Where once amatter may have required a room full of boxes, now it is possible to have a room full of servers holding“relevant”and“responsive”communications for opposing counsel to review.The increasing costs of the discovery phase of most civil litigation has, by necessity, created more opportunities for associate at- torneys to become familiar with technology but less familiar with a courtroom–and, as a result, one another. Expanding the Brand If the problem is technology, can technology also be the solution? During the 2017-2018 bar year, the YLS launched its @theBar podcast on Legal Talk Network to much success, garnering more than 2,000 unique downloads per month. This year, we’re expanding our reach and the “@theBar” brand with the launch of a new blog under the same moniker. It is our hope to encourage a greater sense of community among the Young Lawyers’Section by taking some of our content and conversations online. The blog will provide a platform for young lawyers across the city to dialogue on the substantive areas of their practice, share practice tips with one another, be recognized for their achievements, and obtain advice tailored to them from members of the judiciary and more seasoned practitioners. The anticipated launch date for the blog is August 31, 2018.We invite all members of the bar who are interested in sharing content to contribute to the conversation. Please contact me at lindseylpurdy08@gmail.com or on Twitter at @lindseylpurdy with your ideas and for further information on how to become a contributor. Lindsey L. Purdy is the Assistant Editor of the YLS Journal and Administrator of the YLS Blog “@theBar”. Purdy is an attorney at The Collins Law Firm, P.C. specializing in high-stakes, complex litigation.

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