on direct INTERVIEW BY DEBORAH KELLY

Brenda Feigen American Feminist, Film Producer, and Attorney

At (HLS), you were gether you launched a class-action law- one of 32 women in a class of 565. How suit. About what? The Harvard Club di did that feel? It began to be a real issue not allow any female graduates for me shortly after I got there. I wasn’t of Harvard to be members. allowed to join the only eating club in the whole law school; it only let male What’s the trickiest thing for a female students in. feminist to be married to a male feminist? I don’t think it was tricky; it was a mar- Is there another early memory? I wanted riage of equals. to continue playing squash, which I had done at Vassar. No women were allowed In the early 1970s, as National Legislative on the squash courts that belonged to Vice President for the National Organiza- HLS. I put my hair into a hat and dressed tion of Women (NOW), you coordinated as baggily as I could and played for about testimony to the U.S. Senate on the Equal a half a minute before this old man Rights Amendment (ERA). What went chased me out of the building. right? There was an enormous groundswell of support. Was there a class in which the professor designated only one day per year to call on What went wrong? Phyllis Schafly—she Founder of Feigen Law Group in Los Angeles, female students? Yes. You could stand up was so crazy and seriously deranged. She Brenda Feigen is a seminal figure in the struggle if you mustered the courage to say some- spread lies all over the country. for gender equality whose legal practice areas thing, but the whole idea of the Socratic Such as? In Illinois, she promised women include constitutional, antidiscrimination, enter- Method is for the professor to ask a ques- they would stop getting alimony if they tainment, employment, environmental, business tion and the person answers. Then, they divorced. transactions, and family law. After obtaining a go back and forth in a repartee. degree in mathematics (Phi Beta Kappa) from And now? In 2006, Justice Ruth Ginsburg Vassar College, Feigen went on to graduate from Were there daily micro-aggressions? We wrote in the Virginia Military Institute Harvard Law School. In 1970, she was elected were just not part of the conversation. case that for a classification based on gen- National Vice President for Legislation of the der to withstand judicial scrutiny, there National Organization of Women and became Was there an epiphany when you knew must be “an Exceeding Persuasive Rea- cofounder of Ms. Magazine. Feigen also you were a feminist? In Professor Paul son” for its continued existence. Right cofounded the Women’s Rights Project with now Freund’s Constitutional Law class, we now, the law is as strong as it would be Justice at the American were talking about a Michigan case. Bar- with the ERA being in place. Civil Liberties Union in 1972, later expanding its maids were not allowed to work unless their husbands or fathers were propri- scope to include the Reproductive Freedom Then, no ERA? Its ratification and perma- etors of the bar. The U.S. Supreme Court Rights Project. The author of numerous articles, nent placement in our Constitution will upheld the statute. Freund made a big she has produced a film, Navy SEALS, and pub- have tremendous symbolic significance. lished her memoir, Not One of the Boys: Living joke of it. Life as a Feminist. You worked with and What did you do? I stood up—I was furi- Catherine Samuels to form the Women’s ous. The whole class started laughing at Action Alliance, which considered a me. I realized I was going to have to do newsletter that evolved into Ms. Maga- What is the first thing in the day that something about this. makes you smile? When I open the shades zine. Is the NOW quarterly magazine still and see that the sun is shining. Your father was a lawyer, and your mother relevant? I know it is. a housewife. Were they supportive of your Do you think the honorific “Ms.” has In 1966, you were offered a fully funded choice to become a lawyer? My father stuck? Yes. I was stunned when I saw joint J.D./M.B.A. program at Columbia but didn’t think it was a good profession. My that Wimbledon called Serena “Mrs. turned it down. Why? I wanted to be in mother was supportive of me no matter Williams.” Cambridge. I was getting out of a rela- what I did. tionship with a guy who was going to In 1972, you were asked to codirect with New York University Law School. In 1968, you married Marc Fasteau, and to- then Professor Ginsburg the ACLU

10 Los Angeles Lawyer November 2018 Women’s Rights Project. Do you recall a face. But, as soon as it got going to pro- What trait do you wish you could change in special case? Fronterio v. Richardson in- duction, the men took over. Director Lewis yourself? I wish I were more patient. volved a female Air Force officer who Teague told me he would quit if I went on was given housing and medical benefits location. He should be run out of town. How do you get your news? The newspa- for her husband only if she could show per, Rachel [MSNBC’s The Rachel Mad- that he was more than half dependent on What are your favorite movies? Hidden dow Show], the Internet, and a few min- her for his support. She was discriminated Figures, Carol, and Silkwood. utes of ABC’s network nightly news. against and so was her husband because You’re working on a television series pro- What is the one feature do you wish you he was not getting the same benefits as ject with Lily Tomlin. Has the industry could work on your iPhone? I wish I could wives. Ruth loved those double-edged changed for females? Yes. Creative Artists more easily dictate a speech I have to give sword cases. Agency—the most powerful agency in the on my iPhone. If you know how to do What was it like working with Ruth city—said that they are devoted to the that, let me know. Ginsburg? She doesn’t chit-chat about concept of 50/50 by 2020. What is your favorite holiday? Thanksgiving. the weather or the traffic. Her head is in With Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retire- the law. ment, what concerns you about the future? What is your favorite vacation spot? Hawaii; I love to snorkel. In 1978, you ran and lost by 3 percent for Justice Kennedy warmed my heart with the Democratic nomination for a state sen- his strong enunciation of the principle of What do you do on a three-day weekend? human dignity—he became the swing ate seat, spending $38,000 against your Occasionally, go to the Ojai Valley Inn. opponent’s $600,000. If you had had more vote. We’re not going to have that now. to spend, would you have won? I don’t It’s going to be very, very bad. We won’t What is your Starbucks’ order? Decaf think so. He would always have been able be able to look to them for justice. Mocha Frappuccino with nonfat milk. to get more money. What was your best job? When I worked Which world leaders do you most respect? What was the goal of the first wave of at the ACLU. Golda Meier. Does Ruth Ginsburg qualify ? Getting the vote. as a world leader? I can make the argu- What was your worst job? Working at a ment. Second wave? Equality and control over law firm that wanted me to lie. I left. our bodies. What is the one thing you would like to What is one trait you like in yourself? I’m change in the world? I want it to be 50/50 rambunctious. How does the MeToo# Movement fit in? in terms of absolutely everything. Aggressively standing up to men who in any way think they can take advantage of any woman.

You said that calling out actual harass- ment as it happens is extremely effective? How so? You can’t have it both ways. You have to reject it right away. FEE DISPUTE SERVICES What was your takeaway from the 2017 Women’s March? We all came together.

What are you working on now? I am representing a group of female dockwork- Mandatory Fee Arbitration: ers up and down the Pacific West Coast Subject to Business and Professions Code sections 6200-6206. who have filed charges against Pacific Maritime Association, alleging that when Voluntary Fee Arbitration: they get pregnant they need to stop work Not subject to BPCs. almost immediately. Law Firm Mediation: Do you have a favorite slogan from the Internal disputes involving partners, associates, staff attorneys, and support movement? The personal is political. staff, including firm name disputes, firm to firm, dissolution, experts, sanction liability, expenses, and other issues. Will Roe v. Wade survive the Trump administration? Yes. Contact ACMAS today: If just President Trump and you had a (213) 896-6426, [email protected], LACBA.org/ACMAS glass of wine together, what would you ask him? If one of your daughters got pregnant and wanted an abortion, would Interested in becoming a fee dispute arbitrator you stop her? or mediator for LACBA? Contact ACMAS for details.

In the 1990s, you produced Navy SEALS, a A service of the Los Angeles Hollywood action movie. Was Hollywood a County Bar Association friendly place for women? Yes, on the sur-

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