Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Women Blazing Trails in White-Collar Law
Recently, the New York Times Dealbook published an article in which they noted the trailblazing role women have played in the area of research and study for white-collar crime. They note that “[i]t’s still a man’s world in many sectors of the legal profession, as it is in much of corporate America. It’s true for prosecutors, for white-collar defense partners at major firms and in executive suites. But when it comes to researching and being an authoritative voice of study about white-collar crime, women are taking the lead.”
The article goes on to explain how women developed a powerful foothold in the field of white-collar legal studies. Many of the women who are leaders in this area of study attended law school at a time when the enrollment of women was increasing rapidly, and the number of women being hired as federal prosecutors after graduation was on the rise as well. When these women left their practices to concentrate on teaching, many law schools still viewed white-collar crime as a minor subset of criminal law. The author explains that “because white-collar crime didn’t really exist as an area of study when they started teaching and writing, the women had no glass ceiling to break through. Instead, they set the standard, and their influence on the white-collar bar continues to be significant.”
Today, everything has changed and white-collar crime is recognized as one of the major fields of criminal law, as well as a major area of study and research.
Among the noted women who are considered leaders in the area of study and research for white-collar law are:
Kathleen F. Brickey of Washington University in St. Louis
Sara Sun Beale of Duke University
Sandra D. Jordan of the Charlotte School of Law
Julie Rose O’Sullivan of Georgetown
Pamela Bucy Pierson of the University of Alabama
Ellen S. Podgor of Stetson University
Many of these women have written extensively about white-collar crime and authored what are considered the authoritative textbooks in the field. What I find so interesting is that, despite the leading roles that these women have played in white-collar legal research and study, the white-collar bar remains largely male dominated. How do we reconcile this contradiction?
My hope is that the role these women play as authoritative voices in white-collar law, and in shaping the future of lawyers entering the field, will ultimately have an effect on the number of women in the field and in private practice. It all comes back to the importance of reaching a “critical mass” and it seems that, in white-collar law, women have taken a powerful step in that direction. These women are not only trailblazers when it comes to academics, but for all women in the trenches of white-collar defense.