Law Students

Superwomen JDs and What You Can Learn From Them: Featuring Penny Berger of Lincoln NE

By Noha

Bio for this weeks Superwoman JD: Penny Berger received her Bachelors and Masters degrees from Columbia University.  She then went on to complete her PhD from the University of Chicago, followed by a J.D. from the University of Nebraska.  After graduating from law school at the top of her class and participating as associate editor of her law review, Penny Berger took a job with Rembolt Ludtke, LLP and became one of the first women to make partner in Lincoln, Nebraska.  After 29 years of private practice, she was asked to become the Dean of University College at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, where she positively influenced the future generation of leaders.  Now Penny is ?retired? but involved in many profession activities such as Volunteer Staff Attorney for the Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest, the Pro Se Project of the Nebraska Bar Association and Legal Services of Nebraska.  She is also a tutor for at risk law students at the University of Nebraska.  These are just a few of her community involvements.  As you can see, she keeps busier than most people with a full time job and is a true community leader and mentor. 
  
1. How has being a woman affected your career or legal education?
I know it sounds crazy today, but when I went to law school, gender had not yet become a protected class under the Constitution.  Professors felt free to say sexist things openly in class (?Women can never be trial laywers??Roger Henderson); employers asked the most personal questions at job interviews (?Are you on birth control??) and clients didn?t have any idea how to treat you and if they didn?t know you, often mistook you for clerical staff.

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Full post as published by Ms. JD on April 26, 2009 (boomark / email).