Universally considered to be pathbreaking, landmark, original, and provocative since its first edition was published three decades ago, Women in Law continues to provide a sociological and historical analysis of the overt and subtle ceilings placed on women in the legal profession in their various roles. It is a foundational work for departments of gender studies, law, and sociology - but also reads as accessible and interesting to a general audience.
Adding a new foreword by Stanford’s Deborah Rhode, the thirtieth anniversary edition of this classic book reports countless revealing interviews, war stories, and inside glimpses of the many professional roles that women inhabit: lawyers, judges, professors, leaders, and backroom labor. It also brings vividly to life the candid - and sometimes cringeworthy - assessments by male lawyers and judges about the changes to the profession ushered in by the increasing entry of women to the lawyers’ club.
Part of the Classics of Law & Society Series from Quid Pro, Women in Law is recognized as within the canon of its field, and now is available in a modern paperback format. It features embedded page numbers from the previous print editions (to facilitate referencing, classroom assignment, and continuity with the new ebook editions), as well as all the original tables and figures.
From the new Foreword:
When Cynthia Fuchs Epstein published her pathbreaking account of Women in Law, their status in the profession was separate and anything but equal…. Over the last three decades, much has changed but too much has remained the same. Now, about half of new lawyers in the United States are women and they are fairly evenly distributed across substantive areas. Yet significant gender disparities persist. Women constitute about a third of the lawyers in large firms, but only about 17 percent of equity partners. Attrition rates are almost twice as high among female associates as among comparable male associates…. When Epstein published Women in Law, part of what attracted its widespread acclaim was its originality; it was among the first in what has now become a rich literature on gender and diversity in the profession. Indeed, the fact that the book is being reissued testifies not only to its enduring scholarly value, but also to the attention that the issue now commands…. Her book helped inspire that movement, and our profession remains deeply in her debt.
- Deborah L. Rhode Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law,
Stanford Law School
Impressive … a story which the legal world can read with no legal pride and which others will read with substantial interest.
- New York Times Book Review (reviewing the first edition)
