Best Friends at the Bar: What Women Need to Know About a Career in the Law

Susan Blakely has been teaching and mentoring for most of her life. What Women Need to Know About a Career in the Law—Best Friends at the Bar is the first in a planned series of books to help young women lawyers develop careers that will allow them to continue in and prosper in their chosen profession.

With the assistance of her own "Best Friends at the Bar," Ms. Blakely presents the reader with critical and practical advice that will prove invaluable to young women undergraduates considering law school, young women law students, and young women lawyers in their initial years of practice. Her book is the first of its kind and grew out of her concern for the discouraging retention rates for young women lawyers and the difficulties these young women face, presented by the elusive work-life balance and related struggles. By reading her book and taking advantage of the collective wisdom and advice of over 50 women lawyers and judges, young women will be better equipped for the challenges of advancing in a male-dominated profession and reaching positions of leadership and management where they can positively affect policy and improve the condition of women in the practice.

Ms. Blakely brings a lifetime of experience to this endeavor. As a teacher in the public schools after graduating from the University of Wisconsin and later as a teaching fellow while attending Georgetown University Law Center, she laid the foundation for a lifetime of mentoring. In her practice, which spanned 25 years and included both private law firm and public sector experience, Ms. Blakely saw the legal profession from many perspectives—from associate to counsel to partner and as a Chief of Staff in the public sector. In those roles, she has mentored many young lawyers and continues to enjoy that work through this book and her interaction with those in and aspiring to her profession.

"This book has been a labor of love for me, and I consider it to be my most important contribution to my profession. I hope that it will be widely read and that it will accomplish my objective of helping young women help themselves in reaching their professional goals. I also hope that it will encourage all young women lawyers to reach out to others in need and become someone else's Best Friend at the Bar.