The newsletter of the ISBA’s Standing Committee on Women and the Law

January 2008, vol. 13, no. 2

In This Issue…

• Letter from the Chair: Is it midyear already?
  Being an observant but not deeply religious person, I sometimes feel uncomfortable when a friend or stranger says to me: “Have a blessed day.”
• Best practices for private attorneys defending female juveniles, or, The top 10 tips for juvie attorneys
  In 30-some words or less, could you explain the approach the attorney should take in representing a juvenile client?
• Changing the climate: Why gender equality matters
  Climate change is one of the most urgent issues of our time.
• Senators introduce bill in Congress to combat violence against girls and women on a global level
  On November 1, 2007, Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced in the Senate the International Violence Against Women Act, closely modeled on the VAWA enacted by Congress in 1994 and recently re-authorized.
• ISBA Task Force On Diversity
  On October 30, 2007, the Task Force on Diversity held its first organizational meeting in Chicago. ISBA President Joe Bisceglia created this special task force in response to recommendations made by the ISBA Diversity Pipeline Project in its report issued in March, 2007.
• 2007 World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index
  On November 8, 2007, the World Economic Forum released its second Gender Gap Index Report – a framework for capturing the magnitude of gender-based disparities across the world and tracking how they evolve over time.
• Collaborative divorce
  Discourage Litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses, and waste of time.