An Anthology, Women in Law, Discovering the True Meaning of Success is not another one of those “inspirational self-help” books that already take up more than enough shelf space at your local book shop. It is an eye-opening, collaborative effort by women lawyers who have shared their stories of how they came to be lawyers. What makes this book unique is not their individual stories but how they all sought to redefine what their idea of success initially looked like when they first became lawyers, and how it changed throughout their careers.
The foreword by Heidi K. Brown provides a glimpse of what the reader can expect throughout the book and what any reader who has been in the shoes of these authors has felt before. She states that “we”, i.e. the authors, hope that their stories empower other women to design a life in the law that has meaning, purpose and zest. In the introduction, Angela Hangives the reason for this collaborative effort, which was to gather stories from women who created their own path in the law. Her reason was simple: for far too long women have been told that there are limited paths to success, especially with climbing the corporate ladder; women who have travelled that rare (customary) path to the top of the corporate ladder have been celebrated more than those women who forge their own paths to live life on their own terms. These stories go beyond just a retelling of how each woman became a lawyer and instead act as a blueprint for any woman who finds herself unsure of where her path in her legal journey may take her. The stories also prove that there is no “one size fits all” path for success as a lawyer.
The book itself was an easy read and this can be attributed to several things. Given the author’s carefully thought-out naming of the book’s chapters, the reader has an idea of what to expect from each author’s story. Additionally, each chapter begins with a personal quote from each author and ends with the lessons learnt throughout her journey. Some of the authors’ journeys in the legal profession (as in clocking in from 9-5, wearing suits, negotiating and litigating) have ended in retirement, whereas for others their journey has only just begun and for some their journey in law has placed them on unconventional paths. However, what is readily understood is that these experiences throughout their careers have left an indelible mark on the way they have all identified and determined what success in the law looks like for them.
There were several stories from women who attributed their children’s existence to making them a better lawyer as it required them to refocus on being efficient, and it challenged and changed their perspective. It was clear as a reader that many of the authors were able to tell their stories in the best way they knew how. One author in particular started her chapter by likening a woman’s role as an attorney in a male dominated firm to the Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol story complete with a script from the law offices of Scrooge and Marley.
Other authors kept their stories very concise and straight to the point without losing the essence of their journey.
Another interesting aspect of the stories told by several authors was those lawyers who began their legal journey as a second career. It was telling that these lawyers were women who were from countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and India. While the idea of success in American culture is to secure a position in one of the big law firms, these stories emanating from other countries show how the varying cultural aspects of success impacted these women. They either found themselves attempting to please their families with what they deemed as success or sought to fight against their own idea of success to find the best path that worked for them.
At first read, it would appear that most of these stories are all the same. The author dreams of becoming a lawyer, fights against the adversities and eventually finds herself at the top. However, what this compilation of stories from women attorneys actually does is provide an in-depth look at how one can achieve their dreams and how their dreams can change and morph throughout their own personal journey. Many of the authors talked about how they ultimately found themselves, and some are still doing so. Many of the authors talked about how their path to law led them to find their passion in other projects. This book really was an instruction manual on how to find yourself even if it means self-destructing, relying on your colleagues, peers, and family for support or searching deep within yourself to answer the question, ‘What is your next step?’