According to the American Bar Association’s report from April 2019, women make up 38% of the legal profession, make less money than their male counterparts on average and account for only 22% of the partners at private practice firms.
With women accounting for 48% of all incoming law, there has been a substantial increase in the number of women applying to law school, students and 50% of those who graduate with their Juris Doctorate or J.D.
“I think law is an incredible career for women. I think there’s a lot of flexibility available in different practice settings. Women are often particularly well suited to being less adversarial and more conciliatory,” University of Idaho Professor of Law, Elizabeth Brandt said. “I think that’s the direction that law is already going.”
When Brandt joined the UI College of Law as an associate professor 31 years ago, she had no idea she would call it home. Now, after retiring this spring as a distinguished professor of law, she’s reflecting upon her decision to attend law school in the first place.
Brandt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in speech and theater from the College of Wooster in 1979. While her original plan was to enroll in a master of fine arts program at Carnegie Mellon University, Brandt was swayed to apply for law school by an influential figure in her life — her college debate coach.
“When I got to my senior year (of undergraduate study), I applied to grad schools. I had gotten into Carnegie Mellon, and their MFA program. I was going to go the tech theater route; I did costume design and construction and make-up,” Brandt said. “And my debate coach stepped in and said, ‘I don’t know why you’re doing this. I think you should go to law school.’”
Brandt said it was because of this encouragement she applied to the school of law at Case Western Reserve University, where she would graduate in 1982 with her J.D.
“I kind of went to law school a little bit on a whim because I thought ‘OK’ I’ve been admitted to Carnegie Mellon and they’ve agreed to defer for a year.’ So, I knew if I hated law school, I could just quit it and pursue that,” Brandt said. “I found out that I loved law school. It just clicked with me. I did better in law school than I’ve ever done in school before.”
Alison Cruser reading her textbooks from spring semester.
Brandt said although her debate coach’s encouragement piqued her interest in applying to law school, her passion for law and ‘hot button legal issues’ have always been a part of her life, as well as her career path.
“In terms of what inspired me, I’ve always had these interests in free speech. I’ve always cared about the downtrodden. I’ve been a crusader on those issues,” Brandt said. “My work in theater got me involved early in crusading for LGBTQ rights. Law seemed like something where maybe I could do all of those things.”
Third-year UI student Alison Cruser graduated this year with degrees in criminology and psychology with a minor in justice studies. Now, Cruser plans on attending law school at the UI College of Law in Moscow during the fall semester.
“I’ve wanted to be a criminal lawyer since freshman year of high school,” Cruser said.
Cruser said she was inspired to go into law by her father, a federal probation officer in Mountain Home, Idaho. She was surrounded by criminal justice issues growing up and her passion for law has only intensified.
“My dad is a federal probation officer and he was a police officer when I was really little, so my family’s always been surrounded by that. In high school I got really into “TruCrime” and those kinds of shows. So, (my interest in law) has been building for a long time,” Cruser said.
As for the public’s perception of women in the field of law, Cruser said she feels as if the perception of women in law is changing, and that perception is becoming more positive, but there are still some struggles specific to women who pursue careers in law.
“I feel that women are kind of at a disadvantage in a lot of ways just from personal experience. People have tried to talk me out of going into law and have said ‘oh I don’t know if you’ll be able to do it,’” Cruser said. “Luckily, my parents always raised me to live my own life. I don’t see (the disadvantages) affecting me personally, but I do still see it as a problem.”
Story by Elizabeth Marshall
Photos by Brianna Finnegan