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42 UCLA L. Rev. 1631 (1994-1995)
The Glass Ceiling in the Legal Profession: Why Do Laws Firms Still Have So Few Female Partners

handle is hein.journals/uclalr42 and id is 1645 raw text is: THE GLASS CEILING IN THE LEGAL PROFESSION: WHY Do LAW FIRMS STILL HAVE SO FEW FEMALE PARTNERS? S. Elizabeth Foster* INTrODUCTION ........................... .................... 1632 1. FEMALE ATrORNEYS FACE A GLASS CEILING ....................... 1634 A. Female Attorneys Hold Disproportionately Few Partnership Positions ........................ ............ ....... 1636 1. Factors in the Glass Ceiling's Creation and Perpetuation ...... 1639 B. The Glass Ceiling Arises from a Male-Oriented, One-Dimensional Paradigm ............................... 1645 1. Professional Women Face Sex Role Stereotypes ............. 1645 2. The Legal Profession Enforces Sex Role Stereotypes .......... 1649 C. A No-Win Choice: Assimilation or Alteration ................. 1650 1. Assimilation Sacrifices Multi-Dimensionalism .............. 1651 2. Alteration Impedes Career Progress ...................... 1655 3. Attrition of Female Attorneys Perpetuates the Glass C eiling ........................................... 1656 H. THE EZOLD DECISION AND ITS SUBJECIwE STANDARD .............. 1658 A. Partnership Decisions Are Largely Exempt from Judicial Review .............................................. 1658 B. Standard of Proof for Title VII Discrimination Claims ............ 1661 1. Standard of Proof as Applied in Ezold ....................1663 C. Ezold's Implications for Perpetuation of the Glass Ceiling ......... 1664 1. Difficulty of Proving a Sex Discrimination Claim Under Ezold ...................................... 1665 2. The Requirement of a Virtual Smoking Gun............... 1668 M. THE LEGAL PROFESSION MusT ALTER ITS ONE-DIMENSIONAL PARADIGM IN ORDER TO DISMAmThE THE GLASS CEILING ............ 1671 A. Law Firms Must Alter Their Paradigms From Within ............ 1673 B. Firms Which Alter Their Paradigms Will Gain Competitive Advantages ................................. 1677 1. Increased Ability to Recruit and Retain Superior Lawyers .......................................... 1678 2. Increased Production and Efficiency ...................... 1680 * Comments Editor, UCLA Law Review, Volume 42. J.D., UCLA School of Law, 1995; B.S., California State University, 1992. I am grateful to Professor Frances Olsen for her guidance, and to Meher Dhondy,'Ben Orlanski and the Law Review staff for their editing assistance. This Comment is dedicated to my parents, Don and Gloria Foster. Thank you for constant love, for unwavering support, and for being quintessentially multi-dimensional. 1631

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