Happy Thanksgiving : A Letter from the Publisher

The Glass Hammer has been live for just over two months now. We want to thank you for your support so far. We set up this online community as a “go to” place for women in finance to read news and advice to advance their career. Uniquely, the site is somewhere where we can go to share our related life experiences as let’s face it, the financial markets make for a different type of career.

We are all humans in our cubicles at the end of the day. We have lives and interests as well as being kick ass in our day jobs. You aren’t on your own, the women in the skyscraper next door is probably going through the same thing. We quickly found that anyone servicing the financial markets like lawyers and gals in financial IT found a home at The Glass Hammer. It’s good that we are sticking together; men have been doing it for years!

Our team are women who have worked in the securities industry in different forms and we thought that it would be cool to go to just one site to find out what’s going on in the industry. Find out also who is throwing a good networking event, what training is out there to improve skills and finally look for a new job if the time is right. All in one place. We hope you like it too. Let us know if we are missing any worthy event or if there is something you would like us to cover.

We hope that you are enjoying reading the news and advice that we try to provide from a unique perspective – mostly contributed by women in the industry (some men too have offered to write). This for a site for you, and some of it is written by you.

If you would like to write a blog for us or be interviewed by our team of writers please contact me nicki@theglasshammer.com
We can publish you anonymously – we want the good, the bad and the ugly.

Enjoy your turkey if you are in the US and if not, then happy Thursday – the weekend is just one day away.

/by

Top Law Firms Don’t Make the Grade on Diversity

“You know, you are a pretty good boss, and I like working for this firm and all, but to be honest, this place is a little weak on diversity. So, I’m going to have to give you an F.”

Sounds like the setup for a skit from the Office, but in reality, this is what many of the top law firms in America have been hearing recently, thanks to a survey completed by Stanford Law students. The survey tallied the number of associates and partners at major firms that self-identified as African-American, Hispanic, Asian, female or gay. Then, the students set about handing out “report cards” ranking the firms on how well they have done on incorporating diversity into their firm.

A recent New York Times article by Adam Liptak called “In Students’ Eyes, Look-Alike Lawyers Don’t Make the Grade,” shed some light on the impact of this data on the law firm recruiting process. Surprisingly, the influence of the student survey has been far reaching. As students at elite schools like Harvard, Yale and Stanford wrap up recruiting season around the country, and have a range of law firm job offers to chose from, where a firm stands on the diversity rankings can make the difference between an acceptance and a rejection from a top recruit. This is exactly what the Stanford students had hoped for: to influence the firms into changing their recruiting and retention practices so as to improve diversity.

In New York, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton got the highest grade, an A-minus, for reporting that 48.8% of the associates are female, 8.7% are black, 8.3% are Hispanic and 4.5% are openly gay.

Michele Landis Dauber, a law professor at Stanford, served as the adviser for the project, which is called Building a Better Legal Profession. The complete set of rankings are available on the project website. The report covers major firms in New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago and Northern and Southern California. Take a peek to see how your firm stacks up.

On the website, the survey data can be displayed to rank all of the firms in a given market according to the number of female associates and partners. The firms in New York with the highest number of female partners were:

  1. Morrison & Foerster (23.3%)
  2. Jones Day (22.5%)
  3. LeBoef, Lamb (now Dewey & LeBoef) (22.2%)
  4. Davis Polk (22.1%)
  5. Winston & Strawn (22.1%).

The top five firms in New York with the highest number of female associates are:

  1. Carter Ledyard (64.6%)
  2. Hogan & Hartson (63.3%)
  3. Alston & Bird (59.6%)
  4. DLA Piper (58.8%)
  5. Baker & McKenzie (57.1%)

Interestingly, Wachtell Lipton, often considered New York’s top firm, ranked dead last in the gender diversity category and got an F, with 27.3% female associates.

Overall, this survey provides a large volume of useful data, but law students and lawyers should take note that the percentages are closely bunched together, meaning that a firm with 53% female associates gets an A whereas a firm with 45% female associates only ranks a D. Whether this 7% is statistically significant enough to account for the disparity in ranking is not apparent. Furthermore, while the raw data is interesting, it does not tell the whole story. More important than whether a firm has 43% or 45% women is how those women are treated at the firm, and whether they are encouraged to stay and develop their skills through mentoring, women’s networks and progressive part-time and maternity policies.

Thus, while this survey data is very helpful, and can be a great tool in helping to identify which firms need to improve their diversity efforts, it should not be taken as the final word on diversity at law firms. However, it provides a great jumping off point for more research into qualitative aspects of diversity in addition to the quantitative.

/by

Diary of a Leaver: Connie’s Diary, Week 4

Connie Thanasoulis recently left her job at Merrill Lynch and has been chronicling her experiences for The Glass Hammer…

Week 4:

I’ve decluttered my own house so much that I am now helping my mom with her projects. She’s 74 years old, and part of the reason I left work was to spend more time with her. She’s been a cigarette smoker all her life and I decided I didn’t want to wait to spend time with her when she had an oxygen tank strapped to her back, so we are spending more time together now. Today, we went to visit my aunts (her sisters) and had a few laughts. Later on we went on a good shopping trip. I promised not to rush her, which she liked.

Last week, I enlisted my sister’s help and together tackled the disaster in my mom’s walk-in cedar closet. We sorted through the piles and threw out about eight bags of very dusty, very old things. We found a message box from when we were kids and games we used to play with. We found about ten free give-away tote bags, which we had no idea why our mother saved. I swear, companies should stop giving those things away. The entire population of New York has about ten each, just taking up space in their closets.

My mom is always one to stash away money in crazy corners, so we had to open EVERYTHING before tossing it away. She didn’t disappoint us. Sure enough, there in the bottom left corner of the closet was her stash. After the massive clean up, we put her money right back where it was. She’s a riot.

She’s the best mom I could have every hoped for and I’m thrilled I get to see her more. I think she is too! This is what life is all about.

/by

Adaptability – from Aboard the Paris-London Eurostar Train

My last article talked about training. If I had to plot a graph of “Dullest vs Most Valuable Training,” I would proudly place proper typing skills in the upper right hand corner. But the mind-numbing hours of practice have certainly paid off over the years. As colleagues pick out letters on their keyboards using the hunt-and-peck method, I effortlessly pump out prose at high speed. (That’s not to say my accuracy’s all that, in triu8rth my backspace key is worn to a shine).

Today, I believe I’ve achieved my personal best. As I type, I’ve reached speeds of roughly 170 mph and I’m feeling pretty smug… as I sip coffee & munch a croissant, tapping my backspace key on the London-Paris Eurostar train.

Read more

/by

Passions, Part 1: Skydiving

,

skydiver.jpegThis new series of articles, called “Passions,” is not a cheesy soap opera on day-time television. Rather, it explores what young successful professional women do when they are not working, and sheds some light on the hobbies and interests that they are passionate about.

Think that only a crazy person would jump out of an airplane at 13,500 feet and free fall towards the ground before your parachute opens? Well it might be a little crazy, but its also incredibly fun, at least according to the skydivers I talked to.

I have always been curious about skydiving, as I’m a pretty adventurous person and it seems like the last frontier in extreme sports. I’ve tried bungee jumping, hang gliding and parasailing, but something about skydiving whispers in my ear, “that stuff is all for wimps! Try jumping out of a plane!” I have tried to sign up for skydiving lessons in various countries and at different times in my life, but somehow, it hasn’t happened yet.

Then, I had dinner with my friend Joanna, who had just been skydiving the week before. She has been twice, and completely loved the experience. “It’s the rush of a lifetime,” she said excitedly. “It’s the closest you will ever get to flying.” She describes the experience of jumping out of a plane as both terrifying and incredible, and says that she would go back tomorrow if she didn’t have to go to work.

Read more

/by

The Fresh Air Fund’s Annual Fall Benefit & Silent Auction

Since 1877, The Fresh Air Fund, a not-for-profit agency, has provided free summer vacations in the country to more than 1.7 million New York City children from low-income neighborhoods. Each year, nearly 10,000 children visit volunteer host families in 13 states and Canada through the Friendly Town Program or attend Fresh Air Fund camps.

The Fresh Air Fund’s annual Fall benefit will be a Black Tie event with dinner, dancing, a silent auction, and an open bar.

/by

Breaking the “Quant Jock” Stereotype

Women, let’s rock the boat in Quantitative Analytics. Mostly known as a field for “Quant Jocks,” this financial sector is yearning for female professionals. In capital markets, where women have been traditionally underrepresented, this is one career where we have been dealt the upper hand.

Quantitative Analytics, or “quant” to those in the know, is defined as the process of determining the value of a security by examining its numerical, measurable characteristics such as revenues, earnings, margins, and market share. This mathematics –heavy discipline often relies on complex computer-driven algorithms to analyze investments and generate an investment strategy.

Scott Gerson of Focus Capital, an Executive Search firm for the IT sector of the financial industry, believes that if women have the same credentials as men, women will get quant jobs over their male counterparts, due to the lack of diversity in the hedge fund world. Scott estimates that 20% of the consultants he places in quant jobs are female. With the intellectual challenges, fast-paced environment and opportunities for advancement; I wondered why more women weren’t pursuing this aspect of finance.

Read more

/by

inMotion, Justice by Chocolate

Please join inMotion at an exclusive party with a group of young lawyers and professionals who are committed to helping inMotion provide free legal and social services to New York City’s under-served and abused women.

Private cocktail reception and chocolate tasting at Jacques Torres Chocolate.

Delicious chocolate, savory hors d’oeuvres, and cocktails will be served, and Jacques Torres Chocolate will donate 5% of all in-store sales from the night to inMotion.

To purchase tickets and find out more info, click on; https://secure2.ersvp.com/register/flow/flow5/splash.htm?eventid=6144&nextMessage=splash

/by

100 Women in Hedge Funds 6th Annual Gala

100 Women in Hedge Funds will have their 6th Annual Anniversary Gala and Benefit dinner. This year’s benefit will be for the iMentor program.

iMentor is an organization founded in 1999 by John Griffin of Blue Ridge Capital. It serves to cultivate relationships between young people and volunteer adult mentors.

To make a Reservation, donation, or for corporate sponsorship opportunities, click on https://www.100womeninhedgefunds.org/pages/gala_2007.php

/by

Want a Mr. Mom at Home?

This week’s post on the Wall Street Journal’s blog The Juggler, entitled A Father’s Decision to Stay Home, provoked an impassioned discussion. The posting referred to an article in Men’s Vogue this month in which award-winning New York Times correspondent Charlie LeDuff discussed his decision to give up his career (at least temporarily) and be a stay at home dad. Mr. LeDuff shared some words of advice he received: “You have to decide if the child is more important than the stature, the action, the money. If she is, you must accept it and get on with the routine.”

While women have heard variations on this theme since the beginning of time, it’s only recently that men have considered the option of being a stay at home dad. While Mr. LeDuff says that he eventually wants to return to work for the income as well as the personal fulfillment it brings, the author raises an interesting point. He asks, “Should every parent, finances permitting, spend some extended time devoted entirely to child rearing?”

Explosive responses ran the gamut from a New York Working Mom who was happy with her family’s decision to have her husband stay home with her children so she could pursue her career full time, to some mothers who agreed with the idea that a stranger could not give the same kind of love to a child that a parent could, to people who thought that Mr. LeDuff was just lazy and should go back to work.

Read more

/by