Another female partner weighs in

And, surprise, surprise--she's no more helpful than the last one.

In a recent article, Ms. Wu tried to explain to all of us hapless and harried women attorneys how to rise to the top of the crop, just like she did. And, her advice boils down to the following: 1) you have to work hard--really hard--and be extremely driven 2) men and women can work equally hard, but men admittedly have some advantages by virtue of their sex, so you've got to work harder than them 3) when you decide to procreate, try to get your firm to allow you a flexible schedule, although many of them suck at that--and if you do work a reduced schedule, your male counterparts will most certainly sail on by you up the partnership ladder 4) if you find that you've hit a wall and are frazzled beyond belief as a result of trying to balance work and family, here's her oh-so-helpful advice: take a deep breath.

Yep. Take a deep breath ladies. That'll do it everytime. Why didn't I think of that? And, all of that other "advice". Wow. Earth shattering. So, let's sum up--I should work really really hard, but ask for a reduced schedule even though it's not likely a feasible option, and if I happen to get a reduced schedule, I should expect to have my career side tracked and then some. Oh, and when that happens, I should take a deep breath. Got it.

And, then she says: "At the very least, if you can find a way to work as a contract lawyer, do that." As if a career track that doesn't involve clawing your way to the top of BigLaw is shit on her shoe. (As an aside, why is it that all of the articles about women and the law assume that partnership in a law firm is the end all and be all of life? Carolyn Elefant has a great post from a while back on her blog, My Shingle, about that issue.)

And so it goes. Yet another article from one of the rare women partners willing to sacrifice her soul at the alter of BigLaw purporting to tell all of us misguided, frazzled lawyer-moms how to do it, too. Thanks, Ms. Wu. For nothing.