Let’s See A Man Do This
Women have come a long way in the legal profession. And, although they still lag in the traditional measure of success, obtaining a partnership in a major law firm, we are far from the days when future Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg graduated at the top of their classes at Stanford and Columbia, respectively, but found entry to these firms effectively closed to them, with their only offers being for secretarial positions.
As we speak, Amy Coney Barrett is a near certain bet, given Mitch McConnell’s two-faced chicanery, to join those two illustrious pioneers on the Supreme Court of the United States. While Barrett deftly displays her rope-a-dope skills before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and many shudder at the prospect of her fulfilling the wet dreams of many conservatives by assuring the demise of both the Affordable Care Act and Roe v. Wade, no one even hints that her gender somehow disqualifies her from this esteemed position.
Not to minimize the obstacles many women have faced and overcome to succeed in the legal field, it would be tough to top the determination of Brianna Hill, a recent Loyola of Chicago graduate and candidate for the Illinois Bar. Ms. Hill, like many others because of Covid, was taking the bar exam online and, fearful of breaking the strict protocols set up to prevent cheating, finished the first day of the exam after her water broke. Not to be deterred, she gave birth to a baby boy that night and arranged to complete the second day in her hospital bed the next day.
Ms. Hill, who was not due for two more weeks, had sought accommodation from the Illinois Bar Examiners for such a possibility, which was summarily denied. I don’t know the composition of that body, but it is a fair guess that the majority are men.
Ms. Hill is rightly being praised for her courage, but the story illustrates the continuing rigidity of a profession that still imposes anachronistic obstacles to admission. Having dedicated three years of your life to learning Contracts and Torts, your entire future depends on two days of spitting back the Rule in Shelley’s Case, an arcane 17th century English case that established some kind of precedent in property law. Don’t ask me what.
We all wish Ms. Hill well, and woe to the bar examiners who decide that she failed to pass the test. But, whatever path her career takes, her aspirations are likely to be subject to the judgments of men who don’t have primary child care responsibilities, are not judged by their appearance or, God forbid, have to leave early for a pediatrician appointment or teacher’s conference. Not to mention participating in their kids’ school bake sales.
Because of basic biology, women in the professions will always face the difficult choice of whether and when to bear children, knowing how it can negatively affect their careers. But, for Ms. Hill, she has made that choice at the start. At least she had that choice. For now. And as to overruling precedent, how about starting with the Rule in Shelley’s Case?
