Closing the Gap: The Need for Allies

I was at a mediation in a large products liability case. A senior partner at my firm and I had been working on the case with out-of-state co-counsel. At one point in the mediation, the out-of-state counsel was talking with our clients about what to consider when and if the defendants got into a reasonable settlement range. Our co-counsel said, “you have two great lawyers here, and Kelly here is just as pretty as can be.” I was stunned into one of those moments of suspended disbelief. With one little quip, he took away any status that I had as a lawyer and as an equal who knew and worked the case for our client; I was reduced and diminished to someone whose only asset to the representation was my physical appearance.