Page 22 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2019

FEATURE
down, Damon pulled documents
from her bag and told the man
“we needed to fix outstanding
items before the clients arrived.”
The man replied, “you and your comments are asinine.” This was
a moment Damon would never
forget. “First I called my hus-
band for moral support. Then
I called my mentor partner. He
said, ‘first, get yourself together.
Then march yourself back in
there and call me from the speak-
er phone.’ So I went back in there
and the partner got on the call
and said to the man, ‘Jay, are you
giving my associate a hard time?
If my associate tells you there’s
an issue in a deal that needs to be resolved, it needs to be resolved
and she won’t close until it is.’”
It was exactly what Damon felt
she needed at the time. Years
later, when Damon made partner, the gentleman from New York sent her ros- es and a congratulatory card.
On Female Appearances
Another obstacle Jennings, McGeev- er, and Damon had to navigate were com- ments on their appearance. Jennings ex- perienced this during her career and made the choice to “brush them off” and move on. “You can perseverate...on the nega- tives and the petty stuff that happens, or you can move on and get the bigger work done.” Jennings noted, however, that no woman should have to put up with inap- propriate comments that cross a line. “I think if there is harassment, it needs to be dealt with head-on and strongly. But an off-color comment that is inappropriate and singular, I just moved on.”
With respect to clothing choices, Jen- nings always wore a black or gray suit. She remembers going to the Supreme Court and being told, “you always have to wear a white shirt and black suit.” Now Jen- nings sees a lot more opportunities for women to remain professional but also express themselves through clothing choices. Jennings recalled the difficulties she had being pregnant and trying to find appropriate maternity attire for court. “I had to find specialty catalogs from Cali-
in terms of “male commen- tary” about a woman’s appear- ance in the workplace, but hopes for more progress as awareness around this issue and others con- tinues to grow.
Being the First
Being the first to do some- thing can be a rewarding expe- rience; however, it is not always easy or fun. Judge Del Pesco knows this from personal expe- rience. She asked Damon about what is was like carrying a “dou- ble burden as a black woman” in the legal profession.
“It is a burden for anyone who is either the first or only, because you basically are the representa- tive for everyone else,” Damon said. “Everyone else’s experience is based on you. It’s a burden you carry on a daily basis.” But Da-
mon noted that the burden is only a prob- lem if you focus on yourself. “It’s much broader than you. When you have an orga- nization where there are women that you can look to and get guidance from, and you can understand their experience and they’ve walked the path, they can take you by the hand and help you walk it as well. Mentoring is critical. It’s an obligation we all have. Sponsorship is also an obliga- tion.” Damon wonders whether people in those positions to make a difference rec- ognize the opportunity they have to “help somebody else on their path. Maybe when we have more women in the position to take on those roles, we will start to see a real difference.”
Jennings experienced the weight of being the first in many different units of the Attorney General’s Office, none more so than when then-Attorney General Charlie Oberly appointed her to be the Chief Deputy. Judge Del Pesco asked Jen- nings how things went in an office where mostly men reported to her. “Smoothly,” Jennings said, “There were a few bumps in the road. But I had come from the ranks and tried cases and worked my way up.” Jennings said she focused on work- ing “really hard to accomplish the mis- sion” of the office.
20 DELAWARE LAWYER WINTER 2019
Betsy McGeever
fornia. And when I gave birth, there was a huge demand among the other female deputies [for my clothes].”
Are Women Where They Need to Be?
Jennings, McGeever, and Damon are a group of trailblazers for women in the legal profession. Judge Del Pesco pon- dered whether women are where they need to be, or whether there is more work to be done?
Damon believes some women are leaving law firms because they “just say ‘enough’” — but also to pursue opportu- nities that didn’t previously exist. Damon discussed the desire of larger corporations for diversity, noting that her law firm fields questions from clients about how many women are on the team, and their experience. Damon said some clients even request quarterly reporting on diversity. As a result, some women have been iden- tified by these companies for their talent and recruited as in-house counsel.
McGeever shared a slightly different view. “I think senior women may be leav- ing the profession in larger percentages because larger law firms are still male- dominated, and the women may be say- ing, ‘I’ve fit in here long enough. I just don’t want to do it anymore.’” McGeever does think there has been improvement