A Career in the Courtroom: A Different Model for the Success ... - DRI

19. What do you believe are the top three (3) challenges facing female trial lawyers in their practice?
Please explain how you deal with those challenges.
20. What unique strengths do you feel you bring to the table as a female litigator?
B. Questions for managing partners
1. Are female attorneys treated differently at the law firm in regards to case loads and marketing
efforts? Please explain.
2. Is there a perception in the firm that women with families perform differently than women without?
3. What are the top three (3) challenges you believe female attorneys are facing?
4. Are requests being made from the client to have a female attorney on their trial team?
5. Does your firm have a part-time policy? If so, please explain the policy?
6. Do you find that women partners tend to make less under your compensation system than men?
7. Are there particular types of cases predominately assigned to female attorneys?
8. Have you experienced challenges in the retention of women trial attorneys in your firm? If so,
please identify the top three (3) reasons.
9. What does your firm do to develop their women attorneys into first chair trial lawyers?
10. What strengths do you believe women attorneys bring to your firm’s trial teams?
11. Do you have any particular marketing that the firm does for its women attorneys?
12. Do you have any recommendations on how your women trial attorneys can market their practice?
C. Questions for corporate or insurance counsel
1. Have you ever been in private practice? If so, for how many years and what area of the law?
2. If you were in private practice, why did you leave or go in-house? Please explain.
3. Do you require a female attorney on your trial team?
4. Is it important to you to have women on your trial team? Acting as first chair? If so, why?
5. What is the best reason or your motivation to include a woman on your trial team?
6. Have you been more or less successful with women on your trial team? Please explain.
7. Is there an instance or case where you would not want a woman on your trial team?
8. Do you survey your counsel to find out what the percentage of outside counsel used are women?
9. Do you strive to achieve a certain percentage of female attorneys as outside counsel?
10. If you require that women attorney hours be reported on legal invoices, what do you do with that
information?
D. Questions for judges
1. How does the number of female attorneys you see in a courtroom compare to men in the courtroom?
If possible try to get a percentage.
2. How many women are serving as first chair?
3. What do you believe are the top three (3) challenges facing female attorneys?
4. What recommendations do you have for law firms to help develop their female litigators into first
chair trial attorneys?
5. Is there a particular type of case handled more by women? If so, what type of cases or law is it?
(Note: this should be besides female prosecutors or domestic cases; this is re: civil defense.)
6. Have you noticed whether juries react differently to female litigators than male litigators? If so,
please explain how these opinions vary. Does it depend on the type of case a woman is working on?
42 A Career in the Courtroom: A Different Model for the Success of Women Who Try Cases