10 lessons for Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Ruth Bader Ginsberg
Justice Ginsburg always looked professional and elegant in her Armani suits and her long black robes. She was all brilliant lawyer and all powerful woman. And, like Barbara Bush with her faux pearls, Ruth Bader Ginsburg sent signals with her decorative collars.

What did the accomplishments of Ruth Bader Ginsburg mean to generations of women in the workforce and how women’s retirement has been redefined.

The passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg reignited conversations about women’s equality from the right to sign a mortgage without a man, the right to have a bank account and the right to have a job without fear of be discriminated against for being a woman.

Erica Baird from Lustre and Karen Wagner discuss how women’s retirement has been redefined because of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, her legacy.

1. Find a job you love

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was rejected, again and again, including by New York law firms. But just think—if she had been employed in a law firm, she likely never would have ascended to the Supreme Court. And that was her dream job.

2. Be strategic

Figure out where you want to go, and then, before you start, figure out how best to get there. Ruth Bader Ginsburg did that with her litigation strategy. Showing how men were hurt by sex discrimination was a more effective strategy than having only women plaintiffs.

3. Be human

Separate your advocacy from your relationships. And do have relationships. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s best friend was her fellow justice Antonin Scalia. She disagreed with him, fiercely, about pretty much every legal point. But they loved each other, and bonded over music, and over dinners prepared by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband. It was not a transactional relationship; it was a human relationship.

4. Work hard

You must earn your victories. Ruth Bader Ginsburg started working hard when she was a new lawyer, and she never stopped. Look at the honor guard at the Supreme Court for her memorial, composed of people who worked as her clerks, responding to 2 a.m. faxes and constant demands for more precise analysis, as long as she lived. They undoubtedly loved her for her humanity, but they also surely loved her because she made them better lawyers.

5. Be precise

Words matter. The practice of law is a combination of analysis and communication. Communication is more effective when it is spare and clear. Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s writing was crisp and muscular. Any reader got her point.

6. Presence matters

Justice Ginsburg always looked professional and elegant in her Armani suits and her long black robes. She was all brilliant lawyer and all powerful woman. And, like Barbara Bush with her faux pearls, Ruth Bader Ginsburg sent signals with her decorative collars.

7. Find a good partner

Her “Marty” was legendary—an attorney in his own right, not threatened by a strong woman.

8. Advocate with humor

As she did when becoming a little deaf, or remarking that the Supreme Court will have a sufficient number of women only when there are nine.

9. Find something outside of your job to love

She found opera, and lost herself in music.

10. Work out

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the documentary, showed Ruth Bader Ginsburg working out very strenuously. Like everything else she did, she went all out. If you do the same your lives will be richer for it.

Summary

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a revolutionary who paved the way for woman across the world to gain equal rights. She became a highly successful lawyer and used her authority to instigate change for the greater good.

In 1972 she co-founded the Womens Rights Project at the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and in 1973 become the Projects general counsel (see Wikipedia for more)

Woman can help each other in many ways and become fine role models in their own communities and maybe even leave a great legacy.

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