Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2026
Publication Information
26 J. App. Prac. & Process 337 (2026).
Abstract
From the Article
This Article will proceed in five parts.
Part I will briefly detail women's struggles to gain full access to legal positions generally throughout history.
Part II will emphasize women's lack of representation as oral advocates before the Supreme Court, while suggesting that the disproportionate selection of men as apex court clerks may be in part responsible.
Part III will cover the importance of oral argument and illustrate how women are effectively impeded from participating in a forum where decisions are being made.
Part IV will detail how both women advocates and women Justices are continually interrupted by male Justices and counsel, during arguments, to the point where the Supreme Court has allegedly changed its oral argument practices to forestall this.
Part V will posit how women might respond, and address how the women Justices themselves are reacting to this flouting of Supreme Court practice. It will also suggest that law schools can work with women students from the outset to ensure women assert their right to speak.
The Article will then conclude by reiterating the importance of women's participation in the most important debates about the law, and urging that law schools ensure that women are preparing themselves to engage in these debates by speaking up, both during classes and by means of any academic and professional opportunity that arises, to orally present information.
Recommended Citation
Christine Venter,
Women Speaking Law,
26 J. App. Prac. & Process 337 (2026)..
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/law_faculty_scholarship/1985