In a recent op-ed in this publication, a distinguished member of the New Jersey bar advised fellow lawyers to help “end the bullying of junior women attorneys” by calling out such behavior when they see it. I certainly agree that true sexism needs to be identified and eradicated wherever it arises. However, I do not believe that it is fair to refer to the behavior the writer identifies as the “bullying” of junior female attorneys, because such bullying has everything to do with junior associates’ inexperience in the face of seasoned and occasionally ostentatious adversaries, and nothing to do with gender. And I worry that the message the op-ed sends is not one that empowers women, particularly young female attorneys.

We have all been there—men and women—young and green, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed junior associates, enthusiastically stepping up to argue a motion or take a deposition only to encounter an arrogant adversary who makes it his or her mission to derail your efforts at every turn. Those types of encounters are not specific to junior women, nor should they be classified as bullying. Bullying implies an imbalance of power. Blaming gender for what is really a lack of experience does a disservice to those very women who are told, and must come to believe, they can hold their own against anyone in a courtroom, including, of course, much older men.

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