MARCH 2020 | ISSUE NO. 03 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TAKE ACTION: Equal Pay Day ABOUT US Honored | Appointed | Promoted | On the Move LEGISLATIVE UPDATES The Threat To Title X MEMBER PROFILE Get to Know: Sharon Blanchet EVENT CALENDAR Red, White & Brew Thursday, 3/5/2020 — 5:30 – 8:00 PM A LOOK BACK Lawyers Club, Creating Leaders LAWYERS CLUB OF SAN DIEGO | 402 WEST BROADWAY, SUITE 1260, SAN DIEGO, CA 92101 | 619-595-0650 | LAWYERSCLUBSANDIEGO.COM DIAMOND SPONSOR THANK YOU PLATINUM SPONSOR GOLD SPONSOR SILVER SPONSOR __________________________________________________________________ Aptus Court Reporting Fish & Richardson P.C. Noonan Lance Boyer & Banach LLP Blanchard, Krasner & French Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy, LLP Shustak, Reynolds & Partners, P.C. Brown Law Group Higgs Fletcher & Mack Union Bank City National Bank Jackson Lewis P.C. University of San Diego School of Law Cooley LLP Larrabee Albi Coker LLP Vanst Law Dinsmore & Shohl LLP Littler Mendelson, P.C. Veritext DLA Piper LLP MoginRubin LLP West Coast Resolution Group ALLY SPONSOR ____________________________________________________________________ Esquire Deposition Solutions San Diego Gas & Electric ADVOCATE ADVERTISING SPONSOR _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ 2020 ANNUAL SPONSORS SUPPORTER ADVERTISING SPONSOR Dolan Xitco Consulting Group PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TAKE ACTION We recognize Equal Pay Day, the date that women must President work after the end of the previous year to achieve the Elvira Cortez same pay as men, on March 31. In other words, women must work an additional 90 days before they achieve Vice Presidents the same pay for the same work as men. While the U.S. Yahairah Aristy women’s soccer team has recently brought equal pay to the forefront of Brigid Campo public discourse, disparate compensation affects all women, including Tracy Schimelfenig women in the legal profession. Megan Walker Directors The gender pay gap is persistent and harmful to women’s economic Kimberly Ahrens security. The pay gap translates into women receiving only $0.82 Katherine Lee Carey for every $1.00 received in compensation by men. According to the Shannon Finley Institute for Women’s Policy Research, that pay gap between women Amanda LoCurto and men is projected to last until 2059 at the current rate of reduction. Jinsook Ohta As a further illustration of the current trend, when my daughter turns 3 Maggie Schroedter 65 (she is six months old), it is projected that 11 states will still have Amanda Singer a pay gap. The wage gap is even greater for most women of color: Sara Waller Black women receive 62% less than men; and Latinas receive 54% Julie Wolff Arlene Yang less than men. Executive Director While studies have shown that the pay gap is partly caused by structural Elaine Lawrence differences in careers for men and women (i.e. 40% of women work in Director of Programming “pink collar” jobs), much of the pay gap is attributable to unconscious Ivy Kosmides and explicit discrimination in pay, hiring, or promotions. For example, Administrative Coordinator while women have made significant strides in careers once dominated Ashley Carbonell by men over the last twenty years, there has been no material change in the wage gap. Not only does lower pay mean that women are less able to support their families than men, but studies have shown that Lawyers Club News is published equal pay would cut poverty among working women by more than monthly 11 times a year, with a combined 50% and add about $513 billion to the economy. July/August issue. Similar pay gaps exist in the legal profession. Studies have shown that MARCH 2020 Lawyers Club welcomes contributions to female attorneys are paid less no matter how many hours they work. the newsletter, as well as your comments and suggestions regarding Lawyers Club Men and women with children are also treated differently. Men with News; contact Suzanne Pollack at children are more likely than women to receive raises and promotions. [email protected]. Studies also show that women with children face a “motherhood The deadline for articles is the 1st of the penalty” and are seen as unreliable, while men with children are month prior to the month of publication. perceived as reliable and stable. Articles should be submitted in Microsoft Word. The advertising deadline is the 1st of the month prior to the month of publication. How do we eliminate the pay gap and avoid waiting another sixty For advertising information, contact Ashley years? Women need to attain the positions within their own firms Carbonell at [email protected]. or organizations to make decisions regarding pay and advocate for women friendly policies. Now is the time to take Lawyers Club of San Diego action and eliminate the pay gap. 402 West Broadway Suite 1260 San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 595-0650 [email protected] lawyersclubsandiego.com @lawyersclubsandiego Elvira Cortez Drives Change STACEY ABRAMS DRIVES CHANGE AT LAWYERS CLUB 2020 ANNUAL DINNER Lawyers Club is honored to present Stacey Abrams as the keynote speaker for its 2020 Annual Dinner on May 14. Stacey Abrams is a political trailblazer, nonprofit CEO, New York Times bestselling author, tax attorney, and has recently added television producer to her resume. The theme for this year’s dinner, “Driving Change,” is inspired by a combination of: the 150th anniversary of ratification of 4 the 15th Amendment; the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment; Abrams’ service as a trailblazing politician and founder of Fair Fight; and the ongoing fight for gender equality by Lawyers Club’s founding mothers, leaders, and members. Abrams exemplifies this year’s theme and the mission of Lawyers Club, to advance the status of women in law and in society. In 2010, Abrams became the first woman to lead either party in the Georgia General Assembly and the first African American of any gender to lead in the Georgia House of Representatives. In 2018, Abrams became the first black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States as the Democratic nominee for Governor of Georgia. Those who drive change dare to be powerful, take action to MARCH 2020 clear obstacles, and motivate others to do the same in order to achieve results and change the status quo. The results of the election for Governor of Georgia defied historical voter turnout statistics. It tripled the participation of Latinos and Asian Americans, doubled the youth participation, and Abrams received the highest percentage of white voters recorded in Georgia since Bill Clinton. Abrams’ election accomplishments did not stop when she became the first African American woman candidate – instead, she continued to inspire voters to take action in record-breaking numbers. Abrams’ refusal to be silenced or restricted by her perceived gender and race limitations makes her an ideal speaker for the KEYNOTE SPEAKER Lawyers Club Annual Dinner. “Silence is not only dangerous, it is corrosive,” Abrams notes in her book Lead from the STACEY ABRAMS Outside. This innate defiance of inequitable norms is the very same trait that drove the founding mothers of Lawyers Club to make a reservation under a male colleague’s name at The Grant Grill, a local restaurant that displayed a plaque that openly announced “No Women before 3:00 p.m.” We are proud to have such a fierce advocate for voting rights, during the formative years of our nation where only white especially for those that have historically been systematically male landowners were permitted to vote, Abrams launched disenfranchised from economic, political, and social capital. Fair Fight, an organization that brings awareness of election reform to the public, advocates for election reform at all “Such a fierce advocate for voting rights reminds us of the levels, and engages in targeted voter registration and other importance of women’s political participation, as women voter outreach programs and communications. and racial minorities were previously prohibited from voting,” remarked Elvira Cortez, president of Lawyers We hope you will join us on May 14th at the Marriott Marquis Club. This year marks a milestone anniversary for two San Diego Marina to hear from Stacey Abrams, to support Constitutional amendments that changed the landscape of Lawyers Club, and to help drive change. the racial and gender makeup of citizens permitted to vote. Prior to 1870, states determined who was eligible to vote Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at www. and generally limited the right to vote to only white male lawyersclubsandiego.com. For more information regarding landowners. This remained the status quo until 1870 when sponsorship opportunities which are still available, contact the 15th Amendment afforded male citizens the right to vote Kimberly Ahrens ([email protected]) or Amanda regardless of race. However, women did not win the right Singer ([email protected]). to vote until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Now, nearly 150 years after ratification of the 15th Amendment and 100 years after the 19th Amendment, Kimberly Ahrens is the owner of Ahrens Law, APC, 5 the battle continues. “In elections, our nation has fought a and is a Lawyers Club Director current co-chair of the lifelong battle about who gets to have a say in the outcome Annual Dinner Committee. and set the terms of the next battle,” Abrams wrote in her book Lead from the Outside. “Race, gender, and class have been constant markers of access beginning with the constitution.” To combat the indelible lack of access created You are cordially invited to the Lawyers Club of San Diego 2020 Annual Dinner Driving MARCH 2020 Change THURSDAY • MAY 14, 2020 MARRIOTT MARQUIS SAN DIEGO MARINA PACIFIC BALLROOM CHECK-IN & CASH BAR: 5:00 PM DINNER & PROGRAM: 6:30 PM Please contact [email protected] for information on sponsorship opportunities.