UNIT D - Blog 26

The roles males play in assisting women lawyers are usually mentor roles or roles where they have to swoop in and help a female lawyer handle a situation or possibly help relay something to fellow colleagues in meetings and presentations. In the book "Gender on Trial" there are some female lawyers who discuss times they've had to use males to assist them with something or also times when they've been looked down on because the client was expecting a male instead of a female. One woman said that she was in a meeting presenting something to her clients but in order to get a point across and accepted she had to ask her male partner to speak about it in meeting so they would listen and comprehend what she was trying to get across to them. This female lawyer said that at times clients refuse to listen to her because of her gender therefore she has to use her male partner as reinforcement. Another woman in this book talked about how she's had 15 years of experience as a litigator but clients sometimes refuse to listen to her unless her male partner is around. She said that if she's alone speaking with them that she sometimes has to suggest things to the clients but also use her partners name in the mix so that they will feel more confident. Her male counterpart is so liked by the clients that despite her background they just want him around and if they only hear what she has to say it's not good enough. Another woman discussed that at work when she speaks to customers they'll turn around and ask someone else the same exact thing to make sure what she told them was accurate. All of this shows law is a gendered organization because men are still seen as the dominating roles in this industry. Clients are choosing to ignore the female lawyers because they don't see them as stable and secure and they'd rather go to a male to get the work done. Also, the only way these females were listened to was when their male partner was around and this shows a major gender stereotype and bias. These women are looked down upon not only by their co-workers but also by their clientele all because they are women and that shouldn't stop someone from listening to these ladies and taking them seriously. They have to be backed up by men in order for their ideas to be considered legit but if a male lawyer were to speak with these clients alone they would never be questioned about their legal background or anything and this is definitely a gendered organization.