BASF Has Made Some Big Cracks in the Glass Ceiling for Women in the Profession

The Bar Association of San Francisco in 2002
by Hon. Angela Bradstreet (ret.), 2002 BASF President

Almost a decade after I testified at the confirmation hearing of only the second woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, I had the high honor of becoming President of the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF) in December 2001.

At that time—although we had seen progress in the numbers of women leaders in politics starting with “The Year of the Woman” in 1992—our profession continued to lag far behind and the low percentages of women equity partners in major firms remained alarmingly low, consistently hovering around 15%. The paucity of women managing partners was even more concerning—the numbers from Am Law 200 firms showed less than five percent woman managing partners/firmwide chairs. And the numbers of women leaders in corporate general counsel and public sector legal positions were no better.

It was time for BASF to leap into action! Who was the best possible person I could tap to chair the new BASF No Glass Ceiling Task Force? The answer was a no–brainer; I went straight to the top by asking the national chairperson of Pillsbury Winthrop (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman), Mary Cranston. To my enormous relief and elation, Mary said yes in an instant as did all the luminaries who we humbly asked to be part of the blue ribbon group. How on earth these wonderful people carved out the time from their busy schedules is beyond me—yet they all recognized the importance of the work that needed to be done for the advancement of women attorneys.

BASF is indebted to all the illustrious No Glass Ceiling Task Force members including Mary Cranston, James Brosnahan, Hon. Kamala Harris (who was San Francisco’s District Attorney at the time), Dean Herma Hill Kay, Dennis Herrera, Dr. Deborah Rhode, Chuck Shimada, Jack Baer, Justice Joyce Kennard, Wendy Tice-Wallner and Guy Rounsaville.

The task force did not need to study the problem any further—the dismal stats spoke for themselves! We were unanimous in formulating a set of specific percentage goals designed to increase the numbers of women in true leadership positions in the public, private and corporate legal sectors which signatories would commit to attain within a three year period. The response by our bay area community was overwhelming; almost one hundred law firms, corporations and public entities signed on to the initiative. I will never forget Mary and I smashing a huge cake with a mountain of frosting on it symbolizing the glass ceiling at a packed press conference! The initiative went national, with national media coverage and numerous bar associations from all over the country contacted us requesting information. We are grateful to California Women Lawyers and the National Association of Women Lawyers for their help in a national effort which used BASF’s No Glass Ceiling Initiative as a model.

Have BASF and our amazing legal community made a difference in breaking the glass ceiling for women in the legal profession? The proof is in the pudding. Three years later BASF conducted a survey of all the signatories and over sixty percent of those responding reported having met the goals. Now BASF has a Glass Ceiling 2.0 Initiative with increased percentage goals that bring still more awareness to the problem. As Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor aptly stated, “The glass ceiling is not only a setback that affects two-thirds of the population, but a serious economic problem that takes a huge financial toll on business. Equity demands that we destroy the glass ceiling. Smart business demands it as well.” And the integrity of our profession also demands it.