by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Nearly 100 years of experience in the practice of law was available to the Jacksonville Women Lawyers Association Wednesday at the River City Brewing Company.
The Association’s theme this year is “Advancing Women in Law” and the speakers at its monthly luncheons have discussed how members can contribute to the issue. Attorneys Jean Coker, Mary Bland Love and Dee Reiter all have over 25 years of experience in the legal field and they were asked to share their experiences as they progressed through the profession in Jacksonville.
“Our panelists are very accomplished attorneys and deeply involved in community activities,” said Anita Pryor, JWLA president. “They are truly the ‘Grand Dames’ of our legal profession.”
Pryor moderated the panel discussion and asked the panel if they had experienced gender bias in the workplace.
“I started practice in 1970, and the answer is clearly yes,” said Coker, who operates her own law practice. “They had never had a woman partner before, so it was a tough nut to crack.”
Love also had an experience to share.
“The reason I am in Jacksonville is the gender bias I experienced working in Birmingham, Ala.,” said Love. “There were clearly men in my firm (in Jacksonville) that had problems working with women. I tended to stay away from the guys that weren’t thinking straight and tried to be useful to the people who I thought would give me the best chance to make partner.”
The panel was also asked how time constraints of the practice affect family or personal life.
“No question, the job cuts into the family time,” said Love. “I’m experiencing that at the other end of life where I have a lot of family health issues. Finding time to be a full-time practicing litigator when you’ve got disabled parents, hospitalized sisters, it really does squeeze you.”
“It has taken a toll in parts of my life in terms of what I do and when,” said Reiter. “Every day you get up and you go to work and you do it year after year and that’s how you get to where you are in experience. But you also have to consciously make time to go on trips and go on vacation and spend time with family.”
Coker answered the question by revealing some local legal history.
“I was the first pregnant lawyer in Jacksonville,” said Coker. “The lawyers didn’t know what to do with me because lawyers didn’t get pregnant. Shortly after my second girl was born we divorced and it became a real balancing act. My girls grew up hearing, ‘We can’t do that because I have something to do for a client,’ but my clients also heard, ‘I have to reschedule your appointment because I have something to do with my daughters.’ I was fortunate not to have a litigation practice. I was fortunate enough to have an estate planning practice.”
At the end of the panel discussion, Pryor announced that candidates for the JWLA board would be elected at the April 8 meeting. Per the Association’s by-laws, President-Elect Mary Scott will be the next President of JWLA, but candidates were needed for positions as vice-president of info technologies, director of events-opening reception, director of events-holiday party and director of events- judicial reception.
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