Roe v. Wade was a 1973 decision of the US Supreme Court. The case came about in 1970 when Jane Roe (a fictional name used in court documents to protect the plaintiff’s identity) filed a lawsuit against Henry Wade, who was the district attorney of Dallas County Texas, the county that Roe resided in. The underlying case was a challenge to a Texas law which made abortion illegal except by doctor’s orders to save a woman’s life. Roe alleged that the law was unconstitutionally vague and abridged her right of personal privacy.

Recently I was involved in a lengthy trial where, impressively, five of the seven lawyers in the courtroom were women. The judge and clerk were also women. One male lawyer was a senior member at the bar and the other male lawyer was from a younger generation of lawyers. Trial is difficult enough but during this trial, for the first time I can remember in 32 years of practice, I had to decide whether I should call out a senior male colleague during trial for his chauvinistic behavior directed at me but impacting all the women in the room. I decided to say nothing, and, in my view, it was the right choice, albeit not an easy one.

On April 8, 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Black woman, was appointed to the US Supreme Court. It took 232 years and 115 prior appointments for the US to appoint a Black woman to its highest court. Four women now sit on the Supreme Court, another first for our southern neighbor. Many jurists say that Judge Jackson’s appointment will not shift the ideological stance of the court, with its 6-3 conservative majority. I cannot agree. Every new appointment that diversifies the court shifts the status quo. The shift may be a tremor and not an earthquake, but it has been felt and should not be underestimated. Judge Jackson will bring her perspective and experience as a Black woman to the US Supreme Court. Her colleagues on the court will see her, will hear her. Issues will be debated and cases…

From time to time I like to draw on experiences from other professions as it brings diversity into our blog but it also provides a different perspective on the same issue. Today I am sharing a January 3, 2022 article by Dr. Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu, psychiatrist and STAT’s columnist, titled “What racism in medicine takes from us”.

In recent years, we have witnessed a workplace cultural shift that promotes work life balance by mastering the art of saying “no” – an important skill that is necessary to promote professional boundaries and avoid burnout. However, before you say your next “no”, consider the potential payoff of saying “yes”. Particularly as a junior lawyer, saying “yes” is an empowering tool that builds confidence by pushing you out of your comfort zone. Based on my personal experience, saying “yes” has been the three letter word that has helped propel my career. Below are examples based on my personal experience as a litigator when saying “yes” (despite instinctively wanting to say “no”) has paid off: 1. “Yes” to attending networking events solo. Showing up to an event alone is uncomfortable and awkward. The first instinct is to use work as a…