Women, less than 150 years ago were not considered
to be very valuable, especially a woman who spoke her mind.
She was considered heathen and out of line. A woman was only
educated enough to perform basic tasks in the home. Women
today are nothing like they were then. Women today are given
equal opportunity to be just as successful as their brothers and male colleagues.
Kassie is the Executive Assistant to the President at the University of Maine.
Kassie grew up in Bangor. She attended the University of Maine and received
her Bachelors degree in English and Art History. She went further and acquired
her Masters degree in English and American Literature. She attended the University
of Maine School of Law in Portland, to obtain her Juris Doctor. In college
she said that English and Writing were the most important classes for her success.
She became interested in law because her parents are both lawyers. She believes
that the law is a tool for citizens to seek relief. She is very interested
in civil rights and civil liberties. She stated that “I enjoy being able
to give back to the community, the law is a good tool for that”. She
started her career at 21, being elected to the Maine Legislature as the representative
for the town of Orono. She is a Democrat and served for the maximum of 4 terms,
8 years.
A typical day at work for her is very unpredictable. Her main job is to diminish
problems for the president. She addresses issues that arise from when she leaves
work the day before and when she arrives to work the next day. She works on
correspondence and assists with policy proposals. Helping the President prepare
for speaking engagements, to serve as a face of the office for complaints and
issues that arise, are part of her job description. She is allowed a lot of
independence and is encouraged to work on her own and see what she can work
out before consulting others. She is allowed to dress freely, but appropriately
in the summertime, but still wears a suit every day for continuity and professionalism.
Working through the University of Maine, she is awarded the basic health and
life insurance, vacation and sick pay and through her position, she attends
many events either accompanying the President or representing him.
Some of the major rewards to a job like hers are the opportunity to work
in a great environment, the quality of life is high, and working with highly
intelligent people. She also enjoys the feeling that comes when something difficult
is mastered and at the end of the day looking back and seeing that she helped
make the world a little bit better by assisting good Maine students in their
education. To work in this sort of field, one has to be driven, organized,
energetic, enthusiastic, positive, have an ability to write well, not hold
a grudge, and someone who can separate their personal life from their professional
life.
Kassie says that her best advice to people would be to reach for your dreams
and then reach higher.
Sharon Tisher grew up in Maine and Connecticut. She started
her career by working for Ralph Nader and the US EPA as a law clerk. She wanted
to be a lawyer because she wanted to change the world. She attended Harvard
in the1960s and she thinks the law is a good way to change the world. Her role
model was law school trial practice teacher.
She is very proud of her wonderful marriage and children. She was the first
woman partner in the law firm she worked for and then the first part time partner,
due to raising her children. Her teaching, great cross examinations, and work,
generally, for Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association are all things
that make her proud. She says her most difficult case was a large securities
fraud case before the same judge who handled the lawsuit in the book A Civil
Action.
A typical day at work for her is different now. She is now a teacher. When
she is not teaching, she works on political law and lobby work. She is trying
to write a measure to enforce stricter laws on sludge. She writes legislation
and testimony. Mostly she can be found on her computer or on the telephone.
To a young woman considering law she would say, you have to be self-confident
and a diligent good writer. There is a temptation to make all the money that
is alluded to when discussing law professions, but do what you feel passionate
about and if you make money, great. If not at least you're doing what you enjoy.
Law is fascinating work, so have fun making a difference in the world.
Barbara L. Crider grew up in Minnesota, she and her friends thought it would
be kind of cool to try living in another part of the country. So they chose
Maine. She attended the College of Saint Benedict, where she majored in Theology.
She attended American University in Washington DC for law school. She was working
in the social sciences at a community action agency before she went back to
school.
Barbara said that she was never a good student in high school or college but
that an English Literature course in college made her very interested in analytical
work. When she entered law school, she was more interested in public policy
and legislative analysis. She actually saw herself lobbying for a cause she
was interested in.
The beginning of law career was largely luck. She happened to be talking to
the director of Penquis Community Action Program and explained what she and
a friend wanted to do- start a public interest law project in southern Maine.
The director thought it was a great idea and he wrote a few grants and the
money was granted to begin this project. This was the beginning of the Penqius
Law Project. Barbara is now a private practice attorney. She says that some
of her role models are Sharon Barker, Ruth Lockhart and some of her law professors
especially the female ones, whom she admired very much. Typical duties she
has are meeting with clients, going to court, billing and mail, and basic mundane
business work. Working independently allows her to decide her own code of conduct.
She has a lot of flexibility, being self-employed, but she feels that a routine
is required for success. In a sense she is her own boss, but she is also subject
to the clients that hire her.
Barbara has mainly worked with people who don't have a lot of money, and so
not as many resources are available to them. This forced her to be creative
in her work. These people's stories are really hard to hear. It's amazing how
enormous problems can get for some people. It's really difficult to see how
hard life is for some.
Some things that make Barbara's job more difficult, is when clients don't
separate their legal problems from their personal problems. Barbara is only
qualified to help people with problems that the law can provide a remedy for.
Sometimes her clients will do things even though Barbara advises them not to
because it will make their case go better. Someone in Barbara's position would
need language skills, exceptional writing skills, very conscientious, meticulous,
and someone who is accurate. A client can be harmed if a deadline is missed
or there is a mistake in their legal documents. An attorney should be honest
and have much integrity. Reputation is critcally inportant.
To a girl who want to be an attorney, Barrbra would say that it's a good profession.
The more women attorneys there are the less male dominated the profession will
be and work hard in school.
Tamara Mathieu, directing attorney of the Penqius Law project, grew up in
New Jersey. She attnedended Drew University where she got her degree in Women's
studies/ History. She wemt to Widener University School of Law in Deleware
for her Juris Doctor. She began her career while still in law school. She became
a summer associate in a large law firm. Afer graduating from law school, she
went to work for that same firm.
At her job for the Penqius Law Project, she has regular business hours of
8:00- 4:30. She has a lot of independence on the job. Working with domestic
violence vicitms, her work is very hard. As hard as it is sometimes, it is
much harder when there are children involved.
She says that someone involved in public interest work will enjoy their work
but should not expect to get rich. Someone in her position should have patience,
empathy and a willingness to advocate for people. One thing that she wishes
is that there would be more funding. There are so many people that need help,
however there is not enough funding so that everyone could be helped.
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