The increase in the number of women law students and lawyers is well-documented in Australia, as elsewhere. As a result of this increase some theorists suggest that women bring to the law a 'different voice' which will enable such values as caring, conciliation, empathy and mediation to become more central to legal practice. Others disagree that the maleness of law can be changed by increasing women's entry or by placing more value on so-called female qualities. What is absent, however, is the integration of empirical research and theory; assertions about women and law remain unexamined and unsubstantiated. This paper examines the processes whereby men and women lawyers are recruited to in-house legal departments and describes the type of work performed. The central argument is that women's locations within the legal profession must be investigated in order to assess the ways in which work settings constrain or enable different approaches to legal work.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abel, R. (1985), 'Comparative Sociology of Legal Professions: An Exploratory Essay', American Bar Foundation Research Journal , Winter, 1-80.
2.
Alcoff, L. (1988), 'Cultural Feminism Versus Post-Structuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 13, 3, 405-36.
3.
Anleu, S.L. Roach (1992), 'The Legal Profession in the United States and Australia: Deprofessionalization or Reorganisation?', Work and Occupations, 19, 2, 184-204.
4.
Auerbach, J.S. (1976), Unequal Justice: Lawyers and Social Change in Modern America, New York, Oxford University Press.
5.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, (1947, 1961, 1981, 1986), Census of the Population , Canberra, Australian Government Publishing Service.
6.
— ( 1991), Labour Force Survey, (Unpublished data)Canberra, Australian Bureau of Statistics.
7.
Baron, J.N. and W.T. Bielby (1980), 'Bringing the Firms Back In: Segmentation and the Organisation of Work', American Sociological Review, 45, 737-765.
8.
Barrett, M. (1987), 'The Concept of "Difference"', Feminist Review, 26, 1, 29-41.
Bielby, W.T. and J. Baron (1986), 'Men and Women at Work: Sex Segregation and Statistical Discrimination', American Journal of Sociology, 91, 759-799.
11.
Bottomley, A. (1985), 'What is happening to family law? A feminist critique of conciliation', in Brophy, J. and C. Smart (eds.), Women in Law: Explorations in Law, Family and Sexuality, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 162-187.
12.
Burns, S.E. (1990), 'Notes From the Field: A Reply to Professor Colker ', Harvard Women's Law Journal, 13, 1, 189-206.
Caplow, S. and S.A. Scheindlin (1990) "'Portrait of a Lady": The Woman Lawyer in the 1980s', New York Law School Law Review , 35, 2, 391-446.
15.
Colker, R. (1990), 'Feminist Litigation: An Oxymoron? - A Study of the Briefs Files in William L. Webster v. Reproductive Health Services', Harvard Women's Law Journal, 13, 1, 137-188.
16.
Dixon, M. and M. Davies (1985), Career Patterns in the Legal Profession and Career Expectations of Male and Female Law Students in W.A.: A Comparative Study , Perth, University of Western Australia Law School.
17.
Epstein, C.F. (1983), Women in Law, Garden City, NY, Anchor Books.
18.
— (1988), Deceptive Distinctions: Sex, Gender, and the Social Order, New Haven and New York, Yale University Press andRussell Sage Foundation.
19.
— (1991), 'Faulty Framework: Consequences of the Difference Model for Women in the Law', New York Law School Law Review , 35, 2, 309-36.
20.
Flood, J. (1991), 'Doing Business: The Management of Uncertainty in Lawyers' Work', Law and Society Review, 25, 1, 41-71.
21.
Gerson, J.M. and K. Peiss (1985), 'Boundaries, Negotiation, Consciousness: Reconceptualizing Gender Relations', Social Problems, 32, 4, 316-331.
22.
Gilligan, C. (1982), In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's Development, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
23.
Goode, W.J. (1957), 'Community Within a Community: The Professions ', American Sociological Review, 20, 194-200.
24.
Hagan, J. (1990), 'The Gender Stratification of Income Inequality Among Lawyers', Social Forces, 68, 3, 835-855.
25.
Hawkesworth, M.E. (1989), 'Knowers, Knowing, Known: Feminist Theory and Claims of Truth', Signs: Joumal of Women inCulture and Society , 14, 3, 533-557.
26.
Heinz, J.P. and E.O. Laumann (1982), Chicago Lawyers: The Social Structure of the Bar, New York and Chicago, Russell Sage and American Bar Association.
27.
Hetherton. M. (1981), Victoria's Lawyers, Melbourne, Victoria Law Foundation.
28.
Hochschild, A. with A. Machung (1989), The Second Shift, New York, Avon Books.
29.
Huber, J. (1973), 'Symbolic Interaction as a Pragmatic Perspective: The Bias of Emergent Theory', American Sociological Review , vol. 38, April, 274-84.
30.
Kanter, R.M. (1977), Men and Women of the Corporation, New York, Basic Books.
31.
Kingson, J.A. (1988), 'Women in the Law Say Path is Limited by "Mommy Track"', New York Times, 9 August, A1.
32.
Law and Business Directory of Corporate Counsel (1985/86), Clifton, New Jersey, Law and Business /Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
33.
Lerman, L. (1984), 'Mediation of Wife Abuse Cases: The Adverse Impact of Informal Dispute Resolution on Women', Harvard Women's Law Journal, 7, 1, 57-113.
34.
Macaulay, S. (1979), 'Lawyers and Consumer Protection Laws', Law and Society Review, 14, 1, 115-71.
35.
MacKinnon, C.A. (1979), Sexual Harassment of Working Women, New Haven, Yale University Press.
36.
— (1982), 'Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: An Agenda for Theory', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 7, 515-544.
37.
— (1983), 'Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: Toward Feminist Jurisprudence', Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 8, 635-658.
38.
— (1986), 'Pornography: Not a Moral Issue', Women's Studies International Forum, 9, 1, 63-78.
39.
— ( 1987), Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
40.
— ( 1989), Toward a Feminist Theory of the State, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
41.
Mathews, Judge J. H. (1982), 'The Changing Profile of Women in the Law', Australian Law Journal, 56, December, 634-42.
42.
Menkel-Meadow, C. (1984), 'Toward Another View of Legal Negotiation: The Structure of Problem Solving', UCLA Law Review, 31, 3, 754-842.
43.
— (1986), 'The Comparative Sociology of Women Lawyers: The "Feminization" of the Legal Profession', Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 24, 4, 897-918.
44.
— (1987). 'Portia in a Different Voice: Speculating on a Women's Lawyering Process', Berkeley Women's Law Journal, 1, 1, 39-63.
45.
— (1989a), 'Exploring a Research Agenda of the Feminization of the Legal Profession: Theories of Gender and Social Change', Law and Social Inquiry, 14, 2, 289-319.
46.
— ( 1989b), 'Feminization of the Legal Profession: The Comparative Sociology of Women Lawyers', in Abel, R.L. and P.S.C. Lewis (eds.), Lawyers in Society: Comparative Theories, Berkeley and Los Angeles, The University of California Press, 196-255.
47.
Mossman. M.J. (1990), 'Women Lawyers in Twentieth Century Canada: Rethinking the Image of "Portia"', in Graycar, R. (ed.), Dissenting Opinions: Feminist Explorations in Law and Society , Sydney, Allen and Unwin,
48.
Murray, G. (1987), 'Women Lawyers in New Zealand: Some Questions About the Politics of Equality', International Journal of the Sociology of Law, 15, 4, 439-457.
49.
Olsen, F. (1990), 'Feminism and Critical Legal Theory: An American Perspective', International Journal of the Sociology of Law , 18. 199-215.
50.
Podmore. D. and A. Spencer (1982), 'Women Lawyers in England: The Experience of Inequality' , Work and Occupations, 9. 337-361.
51.
Polan, D. (1982), 'Toward a Theory of Law and Patriarchy', in Kairys, D. (ed.), The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique, New York, Pantheon Books, 294-303.
52.
Rifkin, J. (1980), 'Toward a Theory of Law and Patriarchy'. Harvard Women's Law Journal, 3, 1, 83-95.
53.
Roach, Sharyn L. (1986), 'The Recruitment of Men and Women Lawyers to In-House Legal Departments: The lnter-play of Environmental, Organisational and Individual Properties', Unpublished Ph. D dissertation, University of Connecticut.
54.
— (1990). 'Men and Women Lawyers in In-House Legal Departments: Recruitment and Career Patterns,' Gender & Society4, 2, 207-219.
55.
Smigel, E.O. (1964), The Wall Street Lawyer, New York, The Free Press.
56.
Sokoloff. N. (1988), 'Evaluating Gains and Losses by Black and White Women and Men in the Professions, 1960-1980', Social Problems , 35, 1, 36-53.
57.
Spangler, E. (1986), Professionals for Hire, New Haven, CT, Yale University Press.
58.
Thornton, M. (1986), 'Feminist Jurisprudence: Illusion or Reality?' , Australian Journal of Law and Society, 3, 5-29.
59.
Treiman, D.J. and K. Terrell (1975), 'Sex and the Process of Status Attainment', American Sociological Review, 40, 174-200.
60.
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1990), Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1990 (110th edition), Washington, DC, U.S. Government Printing Office.
61.
Wharton, A.S. (1991), 'Structure and Agency in Socialist-Feminist Theory' , Gender & Society, 5, 3, 373-389.
62.
Wrong, D. (1961), 'The Oversocialized Conception of Man in Modern Sociology', American Sociological Review, 26, 2, 183-193.
