We’ve Come So Far… Or Have We?

by Renée Welze Livingston, Guest Editor

Generally speaking, the only thing that can derail my naturally optimistic outlook on life is uncertainty. Even bad news can beat the uncertainties of “what if?” “when?” and “how long?” While optimism is certainly a part of my DNA, it is also the by-product of starting my own law firm and managing it through a financial crisis and global pandemic, juggling the demands of a 36-year full-tilt law career with those of raising three children, and most recently navigating the delicate shift in roles with an aging parent who has battled cancer not once, but twice. I am inclined to find the positive in most every situation, move past bias, unfairness and inequality, not let adversity get me down, and trust in the decisions I make.

With optimism and gratitude, I accepted the honor of serving as the guest editor of this issue of the magazine, where we explore the status of women’s rights and equality in 2023. From where I sit - at the helm of a successful civil trial firm I started 23 years agowomen’s equality has always been a reality. Yes, I started the firm when I had three children under the age of six and wanted to redefine my vision of what a working mother could be and do, and be compensated fairly for it. Yes, I wanted to create my own legal opportunity free from parochial concepts of what a “normal” workday looked like to male partners. Yes, I set out to align myself with other women and minority-owned firms to help forge a path to greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the legal field. That was in 2000. It is now 2023. Things have surely improved, haven’t they? a deeply personal and delightful tribute to her mother Dr. Bernice “Bunny” Sandler, a non-lawyer known as the Godmother of Title IX, who revolutionized how girls and women were treated in academe and athletics in 1972 with pure grit and determination. Together we can celebrate the great advances that have been made in women’s rights over the last decades as a direct result of Title IX.

Beth Mora, a fierce advocate for women’s rights in the workplace, shares staggering statistics about the continued pay inequity between men and women, including the legal profession. She challenges us as lawyers and business owners to do our part as role models to curb this trend.

The article by Audrey Gee, David Marchiano and Marissa Boyd of Brown, Gee & Wenger, LLP summarizes significant new legislation

The contributors to this issue –thought leaders, disrupters, daughters, mothers and real-life storytellers – remind us that while we have made progress, it is fragile and fragmented. They educate, share and thought provoke with great transparency, honesty, and passion but with cautious optimism. Deborah Jo Sandler provides Continued on page 6