By Sheryl Bjork

All of a sudden, it seems, "women in the workplace" is an issue again.  Sheryl Sandberg, Anne-Marie Slaughter, and Marissa Mayer have all offered their "two cents."

But the piece that really caught my eye was Leslie Kwoh's February 2013 article in the Wall Street Journal, "McKinsey Tries to Recruit Mothers Who Left the Fold."  In the article, Kwoh describes how companies are not only welcoming back former stay-at-home moms, but actively recruiting them back to the workplace.  Lucky for me, I was one of those moms who was recruited back.  I'm not sure I would be here otherwise.

By Alana Bassin

If you have seen any news in the last week, you can't avoid the hot discussion of Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" book.  Although I haven't read the very newly released book (like most of the other commentators), I've seen her TED talk, watched her interview on 60 Minutes and read (and blogged about) the debate stirred by Anne Marie Slaughter in the Atlantic Monthly last spring when she referred to Sheryl Sandberg's message as "rah, rah" feminism and suggested that women really can't have it all. 

By Sandra Giannone Ezell

It is easy to be critical of the number of lawsuits that are filed in the extent of the verdicts rendered, the judges you are assigned, the law in the jurisdiction you live in, the team you work with, and clearly some of those criticisms bear contemplation as we constantly strive to try our cases. 

For those of us who believe that the highest and best use of our time is in a courtroom, trying a case to a jury of citizens, the opportunities to be in our element are diminishing every year.  But today I woke up loving and celebrating my job and I am a trial lawyer so I have a list.

By Alana K. Bassin

So often we write about the work that needs to be done for women.  However, with the year-end approaching, I thought I'd comment on how far we've come. 

By Sandra Giannone Ezell

None of the things that I do is, taken individually, hard to the point of overwhelming.  Being a mom, being a wife, being a small business-owner, being a law partner, being a trial lawyer, being a firm leader, being a mentor, being a role model, being a trailblazer, being a friend, and being a blogger – all have challenges and rewards.  Some are more challenging, some are more rewarding, and the balance between challenge and reward are consistently shifting as life marches forward.  As with most women, however, I don't want to give up on any of them.  They are the combination that makes up my life.  The reality is, like most lawyers, most of those of you who follow this blog and, although not exclusively, disproportionately the senior women in the legal profession have lives that take up more time than there are hours in the day.  Some call this work-life balance -- I just call it juggling.

By Sandra Giannone Ezell

As I contemplate my 48th birthday this month, I have come perhaps naively to the realization that I am at least half-way done. I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but this year I am looking at the notion of an "end". There are some interesting aspects to the notion that I have crested the hill of my life, my career, my contributions, my opportunities and my time.

By Suzanne Swaner

Bowman and Brooke's Dallas office moved into its permanent space on May 18, 2012.  That, of course, required all of us to pack up our belongings from the temporary space that had been home to us for the 16 months that had passed since we joined the Firm. 

By Sandra Giannone Ezell

I have long believed in the unacceptability of the participants in a system who opine but do nothing to effectuate change. Because there are things that matter to me about my country on a national, state, and local level, I got up at 5 a.m. this morning (which was apparently not as early as many of my neighbors who had time and foresight to bring coffee). I had to vote early because I had to get to this flight that I am writing this post on. I was greeted after a 52 minute wait by a polling official who said with swollen pride in response to me saying, "good morning." "It is a great day, the lines are long so early and everyone is here to vote and they all care what happens!" When I was done, another poll official gave me my "prize" – pictured here as affixed to my sweater.

By Sandra Giannone Ezell 

When my oldest son (now 21) was 2, I took him to a law firm function and one of the partners asked him, "When you grow up, are you going to be a lawyer?"  His answer was hysterical because he responded, "No, I am going to be a man."  You see, in his little world, lawyers were women.  There was his mommy and her friends and those were the lawyers and they were women.  For a short time, this was his reality.  His answer to this question, though, still resonates in my mind from time to time and did again today.

By Alana Bassin

In the July/August 2012 Atlantic Magazine, Anne Marie Slaughter wrote an op-ed entitled, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All," where she lamented her struggles trying to manage a high-level government job working for Hilary Clinton with family who lived hours away in Princeton, New Jersey.  She discusses the real struggles of working long hours during the work week and trying to make it home to see her family for two days on the weekend.

Her message is multifold.

By Suzanne Swaner

When I think of the number eight, I think of the following:

• Troy Aikman (last Dallas Cowboy who will ever wear "8" on a jersey);
• Michael Jackson (won eight awards at the 1984 Grammys);
• North Carolina Tarheels (lost to Kansas after making it to the Elite Eight in the 2012 NCAA Tournament);
• Duke Blue Devils (did not even make the Elite Eight in the 2012 NCAA Tournament);
• Nadya Suleman (the Octomom); and
• Cole Haan (specifically, my new size 8 red patent leather platform heels).

But wait . . . there is more!