Women Trial Lawyers in a Post-Pandemic Practice

“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

In 1878, Clara Shortridge Foltz, a single mother whose husband had abandoned her and their five children, wanted to take the bar examination in California to better her life and become a lawyer. Unfortunately, the law at that time restricted the persons who could become members of the bar to only white males. Undaunted, she authored a state bill that replaced the words “white male” with “person,” and she thereafter passed the examination and became the first woman admitted to the California Bar. She then applied to Hastings College of the Law to further her legal education and improve her skills, but she was denied admission because she was a woman. She had to sue the school to gain admission, and thus set the stage for women who came after her.

It wasn’t easy. These pioneer women lawyers and those who followed would not get the right to vote until 1920, and while practicing, they were still considered to be the property of their husbands. And as recently as in the 1970s archaic language in the California Civil Code contained a chapter that placed women in the same legal category as children and “idiots.” Even in the early 1970’s, it was difficult for women lawyer to succeed or negotiate effectively when they had difficulty obtaining a credit card in their own names.

It was around this time that women lawyers, weary of fighting such overt gender bias in the legal profession, began organizing task forces in various states to study the effects of gender bias in the courts, and state bar organizations and state and federal courts thereafter conducted their own studies at various times. Over the years, with the passage of civil rights and other law preventing discrimination, the overt gender bias experienced by women gradually became replaced by a much more subtle, yet just as detrimental, version. And inexplicably, this form of general bias became far more acceptable in society than race or other forms of bias because it was and is so pervasive.

By 2015, women trial lawyers were giving up and leaving the profession in droves because of these daunting statistics: Only 17% of equity partners in law firms were women; 76% of all lead counsel at trial were men, and 68% of all lawyers appearing in civil trials were men. On the plaintiff’s side, the statistics were even more grim: Nearly 80% of all plaintiff’s cases were tried by men.

Surveys of women showed that they were fed up and had enough. In a recent survey that I conducted with a jury consultant Sonia Chopra and the Consumer Attorneys of California, women told us that they believed they were not given important cases to work on and were relegated to diminished roles at trial while their male counterparts were given better cases, prominent roles at trial, and were paid far more. Things were so bleak that I began to formulate a plan to start a national law firm comprised of prominent women trial lawyers to encourage, inspire, and motivate other women trial lawyers to reach their dreams.

And then something unexpected happened. In the midst of a worldwide pandemic, the legal profession was faced with seismic changes. California became the first state in which a stay-at-home order was issued, and lawyers were encouraged to stay at home and avoid going out. Live depositions, hearings, and trials were postponed. Judges and lawyers pivoted to use remote technology and Zoom platforms for meetings, hearings, conferences, depositions, and even trial. Brick and mortar offices were suddenly empty, as lawyers and legal staff learned that they could be just as efficient working remotely from home.

Women were creative and adapted quickly; their innate organizational skills made adaptation to remote platforms easy. I noticed that it was the women who first appeared ready onscreen with professional lighting, green screens, and professional virtual backgrounds. Working from home for these women? No problem. Women were forced to pivot and incorporate home life duties with work. They could bake bread, get their children online for remote school, do a load of laundry, and take an expert apart during a deposition without breaking a sweat. Women showcased the meaning of resilience.

So, it was not surprising that in the midst of the pandemic, while the world changed, a growing number of women lawyers decided that they could create and control their own destinies by starting their own firms with very little overhead in light of these unique circumstances. After learning to live with COVD-19, starting a law firm no longer seemed so daunting and scary. They aren’t alone: recent reports show that women were more than twice as likely as men to start their own businesses since the start of the pandemic in 2020.

These lawyers are emerging from the pandemic stronger and more confident, especially as they discover that they can practice law under their own terms. Even law firms are adjusting to this new normal. The pandemic has forced even the most traditional law firms to be more flexible and accommodating as homebound lawyers and legal staff were forced to deal with child care issues and remote school curriculums. And as restaurants remained closed or were limited to outdoor seating, the steak dinners that were the mainstay of the “old boys’ plaintiffs’ lawyers’ networks (exclusively male) diminished in number. Instead, innovating lawyers turned to social media, podcasts, and remote seminars to advertise and promote their skills and remain connected to potential referral sources. Not surprisingly, these are skills that women relish with creative gusto.

And perhaps more importantly, many of these enterprising women have learned during the pandemic that we can work together and help each other even more efficiently and with greater technological ease now. Brainstorming and collaborating on cases have never been easier with remote technology, and even sharing exhibits, documents, videos, and photographs is a breeze. I have happily noticed that recently, women from different firms and different parts of the state are reaching out to each other to share cases, costs, and trials with great results.

Although we will always remember the millions of people who died tragically during the COVID-19 pandemic, I will also look back at this unique time as the point when the practice of law changed for me and so many other women. It was during this time, when courthouses were closed and our schedules slowed down, that I launched Athea Trial Lawyers with five of the busiest women trial lawyers in the country. And it was during the pandemic that I also created my own law firm, Chang Klein LLP, after it was decided by the Athea partners that each of us had to own and operate her own law firm. I can’t help but wonder if either would have happened had the pandemic not arrived.

As we hopefully emerge from this pandemic and return to normalcy, a new dawn is rising for women. It’s time for women trial lawyers to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight – and claim their rightful places in the courtroom. We are about to see what the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world can do.

Deborah Chang is a partner and trial attorney at Chang/Klein LLP.