Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: ”Great Expectations” for Female Lawyers

Twelve years ago, the New York Times Magazine featured 21 women who had just graduated from law school and were entering jobs in big law firms. The article was appropriately entitled Great Expectations.  The women, most of who were overflowing with confidence and optimism, were asked to discuss the gender gap and specifically the effect it had on their life and on their career prospects. It’s a very interesting read.

Just this week, journalist and documentary filmmaker Florence Martin-Kessler revisited these same women in a piece entitled Great Expectation for Female Lawyers, and conducted an Op-Doc Video consisting of interviews with five of the twenty-one women, which examines their perspective today.  Martin-Kessler found that of the original 21, only half were in private practice, with some in public interest and several working as full time parents.  She said, “What I found most interesting was that their lives were often far more complex than they had predicted. Even the greatest of expectations, it seems, eventually encounter reality.”

I highly recommend that you read the original piece and watch the follow up video, which is embedded below. The contrast between the “great expectations” of these young law school graduates and the reality that they faced in the workplace provides a revealing window into the unique challenges that women face while pursuing a career in the field of law.