MARCH LUNCHEON MEETING:

This month the Gender Equity Committee will bring you up to date on Title IX and its impact on increasing education and athletic opportunities at our own University of Nevada, Reno. Our speakers will be the NNWLA Gender Equity Committee, Victoria Mendoza, Val Cooke, Joan Wright and Susan Rothe, UNR Associate Athletic Director, Angie Taylor and Women=s Basketball Coach, Ada Gee. CLE applied for.

Chicken Caesar Salad or Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich with green salad. Cost is $12.00 (includes beverage) Make your reservations today by calling Randi at Vicky Mendoza=s office, 324-7533.

Shelly O=Neill

CARSON WOMEN LAWYER=S LUNCH

The next Carson Women Lawyer=s Luncheon will be in April 2000. Watch for time and place in next edition of Scoop.

The newly-formed Washoe County Bench Bar Committee met for the first time on Tuesday, February 15, 2000 at noon in Judge Hardesty=s courtroom. Approximately forty (40) members of the local bar were in attendance in addition to Judges Hardesty, Adams, Kosach and Schumacher. Judge Hardesty posed the following question to the committee: AWhat areas and issues does the District Court need to address to make the administration of justice more efficient?@ The following topics were suggested:

-uniformity of each judge=s practices, e.g., scheduling orders

The National Center for State Courts has done a study on the Washoe County District Court by examining civil, criminal and family court cases filed between 1988 and 1998. The Report became public on 2-15-00 and copies are available to bar members. The Bench Bar Committee will consider the report=s recommendations for the policy changes it is hoping to implement.

The Bench Bar Committee will meet again on Tuesday, March 14, 2000. It seeks input from all members of the local bar as it devises its agenda. NNWLA Secretary, Amy Tirre, is NNWLA=s liaison to the Bench Bar Committee. Please contact her at 323-4657 with any thoughts or suggestions for the Committee.

to benefit the Wolf Pack Women=s

Friday April 7, 2000

In AA Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling,@ authors Debra Meyerson and Joyce Fletcher said that the way to end workplace discrimination is to stop trying for a revolution. Instead the women, who are both business professors, suggested a strategy of what they call Asmall wins@ B a series of incremental changes aimed at the subtle discriminatory forces still at work in organizations.

AIt=s not the ceiling that=s holding women back; it=s the whole structure of the organizations in which we work; the foundation, the beams, the walls, the very air,@ said Ms. Meyerson. She spoke from her office at Stanford University, where she is a visiting professor at the Center for Work, Technology and Organization in the School of Engineering.

Specific changes could include scheduling longer job interviews to give job seekers a better chance to explain their strengths and abilities, or devising new ways to let employees get credit for Ainvisible work@ B tasks that are necessary but rarely noticed. Ms. Meyerson said that because each organization is unique, its expressions of gender equity are as well.

Ellen Hancock, president and chief executive of Exodus Communications, a leading Internet host for businesses, said that Athere is a real problem when there are so few women running the top 500 companies in the U.S.@

She urged women Ato make sure that the corporate culture of their company supports them,@ adding: AIf not, they should move.@

Ms. Hancock also said that women have to position themselves where they=ll be seen.

AThey have to make sure that they are in significant line positions,@ she said. AThey are often overlooked because they are in a staff role.@

A study published in November by the Catalyst group found that some 11.9 percent of the 11,681 corporate officers in America=s top 500 firms were women, up from 8.7 percent five years ago.

But the New York-based women=s advocacy group also found that women are most likely to be in Astaff@ jobs such as human relations and public relations and not in Aline@ jobs. It is from line officer positions B those who run the factories, head the sales staffs and supervise the accounting B that promotions to senior management tend to come, the group said.

Hewlett-Packard Co. chief executive Carly Fiorina, who garnered national attention when she was appointed in July, has said that she believes Acompetitive industries don=t have any time for glass ceilings@.

Ms. Fiorina said that while some people said discouraging things to her, she personally never believed them and didn=t let them get her down.

Her advice: ABelieve in yourself and invest in yourself and ignore the naysayers.@

Ms. Fletcher, a professor of management at Harvard=s Simmons Graduate School of Management in Boston, Mass., argues that it takes more than personal confidence.

AYes, the times are changing. Yes, Carly Fiorina made it through. But when you look at the patterns you see that gender bias is still widespread,@ she said.

Chicago, Feb. 1, 2000 - In the past decade, the American Bar Association has taken giant strides to advance leadership opportunities for women within the organization. For example, in the ABA House of Delegates, the Association=s 531-member policy-making body, the number of women serving has grown nearly 200 percent since 1990. The number of women now serving on the Board of Governors more than doubled in the past 10 years. However, there are still areas in need of improvement if women are to continue to make inroads to the top levels of the Association.

These are among the findings of the AGoal IX Update@ to be released by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Dallas, February 9-15.

The title of the report refers to the ABA=s ninth goal, which supports the Afull and equal participation in the profession by minorities and women@ and requires the Association to Adevelop and encourage initiatives that will ensure full and equal participation of minorities and women in bar association activities.@

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the Goal IX Update, which as tracked and analyzed women=s participation on the association=s Board of Governor=s, its 28 specialty sections and divisions, dozens of standing committees and commissions, and in the 531-member policy-making House of Delegates.

AIn looking back over the history of women=s accomplishments in the ABA, the Goal IX Update has played a very important role in highlighting the changing face of the ABA and the legal profession and in encouraging the ABA to persist in its effort toward the goal,@ said Denver lawyer Karen Mathis, chair of the ABA Commission of Women in the Professions.

To put the history of women=s accomplishments into perspective, the commission took a retrospective glance over the past decade.

For only the second time in the history of the ABA, a woman has been chosen president elect of the association. While the commission=s report applauds the success of the Board in promoting the advancement of women, it notes that there are still areas of concern. The number of women on the Board of Governors - while high compared to a decade ago - declined from last year, from 28.21 percent to 24.32 percent. In addition, the numbers of women serving on committees and as committee chairs has declined since last year, as well as women representing geographical districts in the House of Delegates.

The Section of Business Law was lauded for its innovative programs to increase diversity in the legal profession. The section=s diversity committee created a ACommittee Report Card@ to recognize committees that are making special efforts toward the goal of diversity. To help increase the participation of minorities, women and younger lawyers, the section created two new programs: the Business Law Fellowship Program and the Ambassadors Program. Both programs provide mentors and assignments aimed at maximizing participation of minorities in section activities and leadership positions.

The Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law=s Diversity Committee produced a Diversity Plan aimed at ensuring that programs at the Spring CLE meeting and the Annual Meeting include minority and women faculty members.

As a corollary to this year=s report, the commission highlighted several women ABA leaders who have risen through the ranks of the respective sections. Emphasizing that there is no Aright@ or Awrong@ pathway, the report gives examples of a wide range of paths taken by ABA section leaders who exemplify Goal IX successes.

ABy mapping the various pathways these women took to achieve leadership posts, we hope to illuminate avenues of involvement for other women members and inspire them to ascend the ranks of the ABA and the profession,@ said Mathis. AWhile celebrating the significant advances of women over the past decade, the association must remain vigilant in its effort to ensure that its leadership fully reflects the diversity of the profession,@ she added.

The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession was created by the association in 1987 to Asecure full and equal participation of women in the ABA, the legal profession and the justice system.@ The 12-member commission is composed of lawyers and judges from around the country, and includes representatives from private practice, the judiciary, academia and corporations. The commission develops programs, policies and publications to advance and assist women lawyers, and educates the profession about work/family issues that all lawyers.

For more information, or to obtain a copy of the AGoal IX Update,@ contact the Commission on Women in the Profession, 750 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60611; 312/988-7515; email: abacwp@abanet.org

In recognition of Law Day, Volunteer Attorneys for Rural Nevadans (VARN), a non-profit organization, will be holding the ARace@ Judicata -2000, the Third Annual Access to Justice 10K Run and 2 Mile Fun Run/Walk on Saturday, May 6, 2000. This event will take place at Riverview Park in Carson City, on a mostly off-road course along the scenic Carson River. The event was well attended last year and we expect that it will be well attended again this year. In 1999, the event raised over $1,400.00 which helped VARN continue to provide free civil legal services to individuals and families with low income in our community.

The pro bono services available through VARN can make a remarkable difference in a person=s life. VARN is able to assist client with a variety of legal problems. While some clients need assistance for minor problems such as preparing a will, others have legal problems which are a major crisis, and without the services of VARN and/or the funds necessary to hire an attorney, these legal problems could have a devastating effect on a person/family=s life, simply because they did not have access to justice.

Some of the ways VARN has been able to assist its low-income clients have been by providing assistance in divorce matters, preventing foreclosures on homes, preventing wage garnishments and assisting with guardianship cases. Families with low income are Aat-risk@families which sometimes means that the smallest legal, financial or medically related problem could result in a break-up on a family. For children, this can be especially devastating. VARN believes the assistance it can provide in guardianship cases to be especially important because it helps to keep families together.

VARN depends on grants and donations from foundations, businesses and individuals in order to operate the pro bono program. VARN also organizes fund raising events from time to time to help raise additional funds which are necessary to maintain and expand its pro bono program. The income VARN receives from fund raising events like ARace@ Judicata is crucial to the survival of the pro bono program.

If you believe that everyone is entitled to access to justice, on behalf of the low-income people VARN serves, I would like to ask your organization to please consider becoming a sponsor of the ARace@ Judicata - 2000 by making a financial contribution to VARN. In return, your organization=s name will be put on the ARace@ Judicata - 2000 t-shirts, event flyers, public service announcements and any other promotional materials used for the event, showing your organization=s support for access to justice. If you would like to become a sponsor and can make a financial contribution, please call Odessa Ramirez, Program Coordinator, at (775) 883-0404 or you may write to VARN at P.O. Box 365, Carson City, Nevada 89702.

Issues Particular to Women Lawyers 30

Political/Legislative 29

Local/Community Issues 29

CLE Credit 28

Stress Management 16

Career Options 13

Mentoring 13

Family Law 10

Our webmaster would like to expand the ALinks@ section of our website. If you have any suggested Alinks@ to add to the site, contact Elizabeth Fielder at 322-7777 or efielder@smreno.com. Also, Elizabeth will happily post any announcements you might have. Just let her know!

Email: law@kernrosenauer.com