With Mothers' Day creeping up on us, I just had to put my thoughts down, especially after hearing about the riveting swearing in ceremony of a mommy lawyer in Maine.
Nancy Torresen from Maine was sworn
in on Thursday as a U.S. District Court judge. In her thank you speech, she gave a shout out to her mother and to her mother in law for helping her with meals and other mommy duties as she sought success in her career.
It's not easy for a woman to rise the ranks in the legal profession. It's even harder for a female lawyer to crack the judiciary. As much as we like to believe that the playing field is equal, it's not. Sure, we've come a long way, but in many cases, women are still far behind when it comes to partnership positions and to salary parity at the large firms.
Part of that is because while many women do have helpful hubbies, many of the duties of parenthood rest squarely on the shoulders of the mom. Pregnancy is one of those non-delegable duties.
Being a lawyer and a mommy is hard work.
No mommy lawyer can do it without help.
Nancy Torresen is the first female in Maine to hold the position of federal district judge.
There were many prominent female jurists in attendance at her ceremony and she recognized their contribution to the legal profession, hailing many of them as her inspiration.
So, in this week before Mothers' Day, here's a shout-out to mommy lawyers everywhere-- in BigLaw, as in-house counsel at corporations and to those managing their own practices.
Hats off to you all. Here's to the mommy lawyers and the difficult choices that many of them have to make.
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