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?
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.
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