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Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
There isn't time for anyone to be concerned
- Workplace Unfairness
- Female
- African-American
- Law Firm
- Considering Leaving
- Advancement
- Double Standards
- Feedback
- Positive Experience
- Tip
I wanted to get more experience than my previous firm was giving me so I picked the biggest, baddest New York firm I could find. It's an environment where the work is so expensive and the clients expect so much and the demands are so high that there isn't time for anyone to be concerned with whether you are black, white or pin-striped or a woman. So I got the feedback that I think people were afraid to give me at my prior firm. The feedback was immediate and I was growing very rapidly.