Lawyers Club Blog (ARCHIVE)

This coming Sunday, August 26, at 4:00 p.m. the Women’s Museum of California will celebrate Women’s Equality Day by participating in the 13th Annual Suffrage Parade in Balboa Park. This parade commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For those of you who are not history or constitutional law buffs, the 19th Amendment prohibited citizens from being denied their right to vote based on their sex. That’s right folks, on August 26, 1920, women finally won the right to vote.

Trump v. Hawaii 

On January 28, 2017, according to Trump's key adviser, “When Donald Trump first announced it, he said, ‘Muslim Ban.’  He called me up. He said, ‘Put a commission together. Show me the right way to do it legally.’” This was noted in Justice Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion of the June 26, 2018, Muslim Ban case, Trump v. Hawaii. Yet Chief Justice Roberts reasoned, “The Proclamation is expressly premised on legitimate purposes: preventing entry of nationals who cannot be adequately vetted and inducing other nations to improve their practices. The text says nothing about religion.”

The Journey of Gender Identity

Since 1999, I have been the mother of daughters. Well, in 1999, I was the mother of a daughter. The second one came along in 2002.

Loretta Lynch’s Golden Blazer—An Example of How (S)heroes Wear Suits

This year’s Annual Dinner keynote speaker, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, is an iconic woman who has been the “first” in many roles, breaking ground for others to follow her towards a more equitable future. Lawyers Club members are likely aware that Lynch was the first black woman to become Attorney General of the United States. Perhaps a lesser-known achievement is that Lynch was the first woman to be awarded the Golden Blazer. The Golden Blazer is an honor given to the American who has done the most to grow the sport of soccer, and Lynch was given this award because of her work as a prosecutor.

Fore!

I suspect that many of you have been told that golf is a great way to network, and it definitely is. An average game is about four hours, in which you will have a lot of face time with your fellow players and opportunity to get to know people. In addition, it’s a great way to enjoy some fresh air and time out of the office. 

Students Corner

Can law students really prosper under The PROSPER Act? 

While a career as an attorney is an extraordinary calling, we all pursue the path for different reasons. Some are fueled by their passion for the pursuit of justice. Others champion legal causes for the greater good of society. Regardless of what motivates you, we are all tied together by a common thread – student loan debt. All it takes is one, swift hit from the fist of reality via a glance at your credit report to remember that. Fortunately, most us took advantage of federal student loans, which offer a more flexible repayment option and more opportunities for payment relief than loans funded by private or institutional sources. However, future attorneys in San Diego and across the country may be faced with a different scenario.

While a career as an attorney is an extraordinary calling, we all pursue the path for different reasons. Some are fueled by their passion for the pursuit of justice. Others champion legal causes for the greater good of society. Regardless of what motivates you, we are all tied together by a common thread – student loan debt. All it takes is one, swift hit from the fist of reality via a glance at your credit report to remember that. Fortunately, most us took advantage of federal student loans, which offer a more flexible repayment option and more opportunities for payment relief than loans funded by private or institutional sources. However, future attorneys in San Diego and across the country may be faced with a different scenario.

Guest Blog - Taking Ownership of Weakness: Leading Despite Uncertainty

I remember when I first started leading a counseling group at RJ Donovan State Prison. I was incredibly unsure of myself. Who am I, I thought, to lead this group, filled with people who are all so much older than I am? I felt thoroughly unqualified, and I believed that the group members would inevitably question my right to lead them. At the time, I did not realize that feeling unsure was a normal part of leading. I thought that leading a group meant that I came in with all the answers. I thought that I had to know exactly what was going to happen, exactly what I was going to say, exactly how people were going to respond. It was an unrealistic expectation, because everybody has uncertainty. All people, including people leading, are unsure of themselves at some point.

LGBTQ Rights Up For Interpretation?

This past June, I fell in love with Tennessee after visiting a friend who moved there a couple years back. We spent an entire day floating down the Harpeth River—enjoying the slow pace and dense lush forest that hugs the riverbank. After our canoeing adventure, we gathered around a fire pit in her backyard, watched a blanket of fireflies illuminate the earth around us, and discussed how different life is in Tennessee compared to Southern California.

Why Support Lawyers Club?

I was asked to write an article about why I support Lawyers Club. And more importantly, why I, as a male, support an organization with a mission statement focused on females.

45th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade – Part 5

Women Need More Choices

While in law school, I interned at the California Institute for Biomedical Research (Calibr). I was hired by Sabrina Martucci Johnson, who was the organization’s CFO/CAO at the time. Ms. Johnson is an advocate for women, and any time we have spoken about reproductive rights, it has been obvious to me that she cares deeply about women’s access to reproductive health care.