One Woman's Perspective on Increasing the Percentage of Women of Color Equity Law Partners*

• Publication year: 2021
• Author: Maria Antonieta Sager, Esq.

One Woman's Perspective on Increasing the Percentage of Women of Color Equity Law Partners*

Maria Antonieta Sager, Esq.

Maria Antonieta Sager, a partner with Boxer & Gerson, is fluent in Spanish and conversational in Italian. She is also the Immediate Past Chair of the California Workers' Compensation Section Executive Committee; a frequent speaker on the Spanish radio program of "Informacion es Poder" ("Information is Power") on KIQI AM1010 where she discusses workers' compensation law; and serves as a pro tem judge at the Oakland Workers' Compensation Appeals Board.

I was compelled to write this article after reading that only 2% of equity law partners at large law firms are women of color in the June 22, 2020 American Bar Association (ABA) Journal article titled Majority of Minority Female Lawyers Consider Leaving Law; ABA Study Explains Why. My hope is my personal and positive story will help increase this number

I often tell students I mentor from Centro Legal de la Raza's Youth Law Academy where I serve on their Advisory Committee in Oakland, California I know how lucky I am to be where I am today. I am a multi-ethnic female lawyer, as my father is Italian and my mother Salvadoran. I am also someone who overcame immigrating to the United States at age four, poverty, and being raised primarily by a single mother who did not know how to read, write, or speak English. I share these vulnerabilities to help students see that if I could beat the odds, so can they.

I am also an equity law partner at one of the largest and most respected applicant workers' compensation law firms in Oakland, California, Boxer & Gerson LLP, where I have represented injured workers for nearly twenty years.

So how did I end up where I am today given where I started out? I believe it has to do with a little bit of luck, a lot of hard work, and most importantly, joining a law firm that treats you exactly as Boxer & Gerson treated me since day one. That is, respect me, assign engaged and meaningful mentors, and create a culture that recognizes my contributions. If more law firms treated their associates and partners as my firm treated me, that 2% number would undoubtedly increase as the above study discusses.

My story began eighteen years ago, soon after becoming a lawyer, in January 2003 when I responded to Boxer & Gerson's ad looking for a Spanish-speaking workers' compensation lawyer. This resulted in an interview shortly thereafter. I was interviewed by four of the firm's senior...