Conversations We Should Be Having

• Author: Laura Becking, Laura Metzger, Leah Sanzari, Rachelle Navarro
• Pages: 47-52

Published in Litigation, Volume 47, Number 2, Winter 2021. © 2021 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof may not be

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Conversations

We Should Be Having

LAURA BECKING, LAURA METZGER, LEAH SANZARI, AND RACHELLE NAVARRO

The authors are with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, New York City.

How to succeed as a female attorney is hardly a novel topic. All

of us have read countless articles, attended CLEs, and had dis-

cussions with our colleagues about this very issue. Which is why

I, Rachelle, was pleasantly surprised to attend a law firm event

with a women’s panel that focused on issues and advice I had

not heard before. The conversation was honest and personal.

The advice was frank and practical. And I anticipate the impact

will be long-lasting.

Here are thoughts and advice from discussions with those

remarkable and successful women, both from comments at that

original panel and from multiple follow-up conversations. We

know of course that we do not have all the answers. We do not

pretend to. As with legal advice, these ideas must be carefully

considered and molded to fit each individual’s needs and cir-

cumstances. But our hope is that this will help lead to insightful

evaluation, informed consideration, and wise decisions.

Make Choices, Not Sacrifices

Often a key theme in discussions focused on women is the con

-

cept of “having it all.” Those discussions tend to focus on either

how to achieve that goal or on how we female attorneys must

resign ourselves to the fiction of the whole idea and that sacri-

fices are inevitable. In our judgment, a discussion about having

it all is futile. It is impossible for anyone to “have it all,” just as

we cannot make both a right turn and a left turn. But that does

not mean that sacrifices are inevitable. They are not. Rather than

making sacrifices, we should identify, and then make, choices.

With the exception of childbirth, female lawyers face the same

choices as male lawyers. But for some reason, the concept of

making career sacrifices seems to be one that only women face.

Perhaps that’s because of societal pressures—pressures to have

a family, to be a good mother, to look a certain way.

Rather than being a passive participant to your career, driven

by societal pressures, be an active decision-maker. Understand

your options; consider your options; make conscious choices; be

at peace with your choices. Decide what is important to you and

what you value. Be honest with yourself. Ask: What does success

look like for me? What do I need to do to view myself as success-

ful? And what else do I have time for that is important to me?

Laura Becking: I have had various opportunities over the years to

take on more significant roles in my career. Some I have taken and

some I have not. Although on paper some of those opportunities

made all the sense in the world (for example, offers of large jumps

in status or compensation), at times I made conscious decisions

not to take them. Many factors went into each decision. Often the

predominant factor was my family. I do not view my turning down