Blog 27

The competency gap that is experienced between men and women lawyers exists because women lawyers are not seen as lawyers first, but as women first. Women are also not judged equally to their male counterparts, women still have to work harder than men to be judged as equally competent. In the south, older male lawyers still view women as intruders and outsiders in the law profession. Is was said that women have to be objectively better to be perceived as equal in the profession. Later, an American bar association survey showed that 60% of women said that they had to work harder to prove themselves. Women also experience the male-lawyer paradigm, when there is an assumption that women lack power and therefore don;'t need to be take as seriously as men. Women are also labeled by male lawyers as "lady lawyers", which is pretty demeaning. When both a male and female lawyer are in a room, and there is a question of who is in charge, it is usually assumed that the male is in charge, undermining woman's perceived status and competence. Which this perceived status sticks until proven otherwise. In court cases, men use different tactics to undermine their female opposition. Male lawyers generally more aggressive with questions. They also bully or intimidate women in an attempt to derail their thoughts and knock their plans off course. Men also ask questions in a disrespectful, belittling manner, and sometimes using crude body language. Overall men try to use these aggressive tactics to get women to back down and become subservient, but if there is a male partner, this is less likely to occur.