Page 28 - Delaware Lawyer - Winter 2019

FEATURE
RS: A group of women in my unit have formed a group chat. We’ll text each other all the time about issues that come up, as women in the profession. That support system is so important. For more junior deputies, I say, just come and talk to me.
QUESTION: Are there fe- male first-chairs in Delaware?
RS: The DOJ is unique. If the case is assigned to a Deputy, it belongs to the Deputy as first- chair. We have a lot of women trying cases as the lead attorney.
PW: When I talk about diver-
sity, I like to make sure we are
careful. When we just say wom-
en, it discounts us – women of
color. For me, I try very hard to emphasize diversity and wom-
en. I think there are white first-chairs that are female. When I try to think of diverse ones, I am having a very hard time.
TM: Going back to when I first started working at the County, I was one of two
diverse lawyers. When the other minor- ity lawyer left, it was just me for quite some time. There were other women at- torneys, but they were Caucasian. The last administration made strides in di-
versity. The Office of Law went from one minority female at- torney to three in two years. That’s saying something when for years and years there was just me.
QUESTION: Can you point to an example, where someone helped you?
RS: When I had just been hired and was fulfilling the bar checklist, I really didn’t know many people. This is be- fore Sarita passed; we were just chatting. I needed to see a jury selection and she knew some- one who was picking a jury. She was just so helpful. She didn’t have to do that. Little things like that, she was so welcom- ing, it was without a thought or hesitation — “I’m just going
to help this person.” I think about that a lot and try to do the same.
NH: I just try to bring people along. Exposure is important, even with my daughter, who is 13. I just try to bring
26 DELAWARE LAWYER WINTER 2019