A Masterclass in Surviving as a Woman Attorney

• Pages: 32-32
• Date: 01 October 2024
• Author: Tiega-Noel Varlack
• Subject Matter: Civil Law

BOOK REVIEW

n many ways, Her Story: The Resilient Woman Lawyer's

Guide to Conquering Obstacles, Book 2, is my story.

This collection of essays from the ABA Litigation

Section’s Woman Advocate Committee offers readers a

proverbial masterclass in surviving as a 21st century

woman attorney.

The book, spanning 440 pages, is broken into chapters

covering everything from impostor syndrome to substance

abuse and recovery, to rainmaking. The authors are a tribe

of attorneys, judges, and former practitioners who share

a common connection of membership in the Litigation

Section, all having served in various leadership positions.

Each chapter contains about eight essays written in rst

person. They begin with a short narration of the author’s

history and professional background and are followed by

advice drawn on wisdom from hard-fought lessons. The

essays end with a sketch of the author, including her work in

the section, current location, education, and area of practice.

Each chapter concludes with questions for the reader per-

taining to the topic covered in the chapter.

In this way the book becomes a teachable text. It would

also be a great edition to a “woman in the law” class or for

self-study or an audit of oneself and one’s place in the legal

landscape. At times both hilarious in its relatability and

painful in explaining our collective hurts, the book takes the

reader to the heart of practice and life, which is often men-

tally challenging, physically exhausting, and socially isolat-

ing; sometimes leading us to question at times why we even

chose this path.

The essays are pure gold. One, “Mandatory Magic,”

took me back to my days as a rst-year associate in Silicon

Valley’s high stakes cutthroat environment. Therein, the

author talks about conjuring black girl magic, in her rst

pass at succeeding as a black female associate in big law.

My face reddened in embarrassment for the author, as

she described the all-too-familiar dance of being second and

triple guessed by white male partners and having her work

judged by less senior co-workers.

The essay culminated in the author being asked to pre-

pare a declaration which she had not yet done. Rather than

ask for help, the author used her rm’s internal document

bank to nd examples, which she then used to draft the

declaration. When she presented it to the partner, he took

the document and marched into another associate’s ofce,

who was junior to the author, and asked loudly whether the

declaration contained the “federal language.” The associ-

ate quickly scanned the document and said that it did not.

Frustrated and on the verge of breaking down, the author

A Masterclass in Surviving

as a Woman Attorney

Her Story Book 2 is available at bit.ly/LN-herstory2

bolted from the room and

rushed to the library to

scour materials for this

magical federal language.

When she nally found it,

it consisted of declaring

that the document was “true and correct.”

This magic federal language had been in the declaration

all along. Vindicated, the author marched back to the part-

ner’s ofce, handing him the declaration and the statute and

asking him what language she was missing. Knowing she

had won this test, the author backed out of the partner’s

ofce smirking. “Smart ass” he grumbled, as she retreated.

It is that kind of agency for oneself and spirit of “can do”

that makes this book such a great read. Black, white, single,

married, straight or gay, we as women litigators all share the

fear of rejection where our efforts are judged by wins and

losses every day. But essays like “Mandatory Magic” teach

us to address our agency, own it, and save ourselves. We do

this by continuing to believe in ourselves.

Other essays outline the resilience and scrappy spirit

women in litigation share. Our foremothers of yesteryear,

who came up in rms wearing men’s suits and bows tied

around their necks, paved the way for jeans in the ofce and

skirts in court. Her Story gives us this history through rst-

hand accounts and more.

There are also stories of non-traditional career pivots,

like that of Stephanie Stuckey, who at 53 started over as

CEO of her family’s gift shops. Taking the business back

from the verge of bankruptcy and growing it to a multi-mil-

lion dollar success, this former litigator shows through her

own story that it is never too late to start over.

The book also contains a few essays from men and a

statistical breakdown of women in the profession with the

familiar metrics of attrition and the effect having children

has on one’s career trajectory.

My only criticism is also a plea for Her Story 3. We need

to hear from more solo practitioners, junior lawyers, law

students, and litigation dropouts for a broader picture of

navigating and practicing resiliency in our ever-changing

legal landscape. Women lawyers in any size rm and at any

stage of their career can only benet from the shared wis-

dom and insight that could come with broader retelling of

so many individual stories.

This book is not to be missed. I will turn to it again and

again for guidance as I continue to navigate and write my

own story.

By Tiega-Noel Varlack, Litigation News Contribu ting Edito r

FALL 2024 • VOL. 5 0 NO. 1

32 | ABA LITIGATION SECTIO N

Published in Lit igation News Volume 5 0, Number 1, Fall 2024. © 2 024 by the America n Bar Associati on. Reproduced wi th permission. A ll rights reserv ed. This informati on or any portion t hereof may not be copi ed or

disseminated in an y form or by any means or s tored in an electro nic database or re trieval system wi thout the express w ritten consen t of the American B ar Associatio n.