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Personal History of Women and the Law During the Last Half Century I’m Willard Converse, age 82, admitted to the bar in 1952, which had a big “admitting class” because most of us were World War II Veterans that all started college together in 1946. If you look at page 4 of Volume 236 of Minnesota Reports (1952), you will see the names of 184 newly admitted lawyers. Three first names stand out: Rose, Bonnie, and Elizabeth. That’s about 1½% women. The law was then a male profession. The first woman judge in Minnesota was Judge Betty Washburn, Hennepin County District Court, appointed in the 1950s. Her sex was a focal point when Bob Bell (my future partner) and I were associates with Robins, Davis, and Lyons (now Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, LLP). In 1958, the firm hired a new associate about our age who had had a tough time in World War II, and after a few years of practice was in the Veterans Administration Hospital for a mental condition. He was deemed “cured,” the Robins firm hired him, and he was arguing a court case before Judge Washburn when the Judge called and said that our associate was going directly to jail for direct contempt of court (unruly conduct, disrespect of the Court, such as accusing the Judge of having a “penis complex”) unless another lawyer from our office was immediately dispatched. Robert Bell promptly appeared in Judge Washburn’s chambers where he found our associate sitting on the floor, cross-legged, rocking back and forth. Bob knew something about the case, and finished it. The associate went back to the hospital. Appearing before a woman judge was just too much for the man in his damaged emotional condition. Fast forward to 1970. Still a paucity of women lawyers and still just one female judge (to my knowledge). My oldest daughter started college and said her desire was to become a lawyer. I said no, the practice of law would surely destroy the natural feminine attributes of compassion, kindness, etc. Be a doctor or teacher. Five years later, after majoring in psychology, she said she was going to law school with or without our blessing. We did and she did and she’s now an assistant county attorney with Scott County. Fast forward to 1988. Myself, Robert Bell, and Erwin Peterson, had left the Robins office in 1962 to start our own three-man law firm. We kept expanding, adding an additional male lawyer every few years. We hired my attorney daughter being admitted in 1980. She left the practice for a few years to raise two children and then went on to Scott County for prosecution. By that time (mid 1980s), women were graduating from law schools with increasing frequency, but were still a decided minority of graduates, and we again were a law firm consisting of 15 male only lawyers, housed in Minneapolis, where we thought we could service our clients better. We older lawyers thought that was a mistake, the firm split, with the Minneapolis attorneys staying there and the eight St. Paul attorneys returning to St. Paul, where we never should have left. We presently have 11 attorneys, including three women lawyers: · We hired Carol Baldwin in 1986. She is a first rate brief writer, ERISA collections practitioner, and a federal procedural expert. Carol has an adult child. · Caroline Bell Beckman (Bob Bell’s daughter) was a clerk for us, then was hired in 1988, the year she was admitted. Caroline seamlessly heads our large prosecution practice, is heavily engaged in municipal work, and with a sizable workers’ compensation practice. She has two youngsters. She became a partner in 1997. · Kari Quinn was hired in 2001 and is actively involved in municipal prosecution and also engaged in workers’ compensation. She is also our personnel and co-office manager. She has seven-month-old twins. She became a partner in 2006. Do I see any differences in how male and female lawyers practice? I’m not sure but I think so. Women seem better organized and just a tad more productive. In adversary proceedings, they seem to take a loss harder than a male lawyer, probably by being more emotionally attached. It is a wonder to me how our young women lawyers with children can be so productive in their practice and still be natural caregivers. My four daughters have a simple answer: women can multi-task. What a change in the last half century. Male lawyers think nothing of being opposed by women lawyers or by appearing before women judges. And, yes, I was dead wrong (along with my entire male World War II generation) – women lawyers do not lose any of their natural attributes of femininity due to the rough and tumble practice of law. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said it best, “Time has upset many fighting faiths.” One of those fighting faiths was that women cannot be good lawyers. Oh yes they can – damn good lawyers.
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