Clifford Chance has been blasted by female associates in the US for giving them advice on how to speak and dress.
The US branch of the firm's Women's Committee has provoked an outcry from female associates across the pond after sending all of them a list of 163 tips on "Speaking Effectively". The tips were culled from a talk on the subject given by a female partner, but one recipient told US site Above the Law, "Female associates are very upset by not only the elementary nature of the tips themselves, but the suggestion that these would only apply to women. We have never been a very female friendly firm, but this is beyond the pale."
Highlights of the five page list include the following:
The firm, instead of frantically trying to bury the manifesto like BLP with its trainee fashion advice, stood by the guidance. A spokeswoman for Clifford Chance said, "While much of what is covered is common sense, we believe that it is important that women as well as men are given access to a range of different viewpoints and approaches; there is no Clifford Chance template on how people should present. The offence caused by a small percentage of the suggestions in the tip sheet was entirely unintentional."
Find the full memo here.
Tip Off ROF
The US branch of the firm's Women's Committee has provoked an outcry from female associates across the pond after sending all of them a list of 163 tips on "Speaking Effectively". The tips were culled from a talk on the subject given by a female partner, but one recipient told US site Above the Law, "Female associates are very upset by not only the elementary nature of the tips themselves, but the suggestion that these would only apply to women. We have never been a very female friendly firm, but this is beyond the pale."
Highlights of the five page list include the following:
- Lose the quirky manerisms that are so charming to those who do know you
- Don't giggle
- Don't squirm
- Don't wave your arms
- You've got to lose "Um" and "uh", "you know", "ok" and "like"
- Pretend you're in moot court, not the high school cafeteria
- Don't raise your pitch at the end of the sentence if it's not a question
- Make nose contact
- Wear a suit, not your party outfit
- Don't dress like a mortician
- Understated jewellry, nothing jingly or clanky
- Think Lauren Bacall, not Marilyn Monroe
- No one heard Hillary the day she showed cleavage
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The urinal position can muffle delivery |
The firm, instead of frantically trying to bury the manifesto like BLP with its trainee fashion advice, stood by the guidance. A spokeswoman for Clifford Chance said, "While much of what is covered is common sense, we believe that it is important that women as well as men are given access to a range of different viewpoints and approaches; there is no Clifford Chance template on how people should present. The offence caused by a small percentage of the suggestions in the tip sheet was entirely unintentional."
Find the full memo here.
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FWIW, "nose contact" means (as many studies show) that if you want to make the person speaking to you understand that you are focused on what (s)he is saying, you shouldn't "look them in the eyes", as the popular expression goes, but actually at their nose.
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