This interview study was begun in 1965 in order to learn by what paths women became lawyers and how the aura of exclusion in the legal profession affected their careers. The study focused on the treatment of women attorneys by their colleagues and families, the pressures they faced, and the life-cycle changes and societal changes which affected their career paths. Data collection spanned the period from 1965 through 1980. In 1965 and 1966, 61 female attorneys from New York City and surrounding areas were interviewed using a structured, open-ended interview protocol. The sample was random and included lawyers in a range of practices. In the early 1970s, Epstein conducted informal interviews with younger women who had entered the profession since the completion of the first study. In 1976, interviews were conducted with another sample of women in specifically targeted fields of law, including district attorneys, Wall Steet lawyers, and lawyers in small feminist firms. In this phase several informal interviews with male lawyers and legal educators were also conducted. There are a total of 59 interviews from the post-1966 phases of the data collection-- 49 with females and 10 with males. The 1965 interview schedule included questions on the type of practice, specialty, clients, salience of being a woman in the law, professional memberships, feelings about work, career patterns, education, income, family background, home responsibilities, and work/family conflicts. The later interviews cover many of the same topics less systematically. The Murray Center holds typed transcripts and notes for 120 participants, 110 women and 10 men. No coded data are available; however, there are some frequencies on some portions of the 1965-1966 data. Cassette tapes of some interviews are available.
