Making their case

Katie Lavelle, 33, ended the stranglehold of what U.S. Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story in 1829 called the "jealous mistress" of law when she left a firm and became a staff attorney for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. The Philadelphian, mother of a 3-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, now has regular hours and far less mommy/lawyer stress.

"The bargain I struck . . . is that my personal life and work life are very separate. But what I gave up is the opportunity to make a healthy salary. I carry the same law school debt as most other lawyers - about $120,000 plus," says Lavelle. "But I love my job because it lets me be a mom first and a lawyer second."

Like so many of the other women at the MAMA meeting, Andrea Kirshenbaum, 36, an employment attorney at Duane Morris and a mother of three, may be in her office 10 hours a day, but her job often follows her home. She'd love a more steady and predictable workload, but knows that's not always the nature of law.

"There are unexpected urgencies - client emergencies, new cases that come in the door, the need to seek a restraining order from the court," says Kirshenbaum.

Tanishka Cruz, 29, a third-year student at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law, learned that she was pregnant just as she received her law school acceptance. She arranged to defer her first year, but joined the fray when her son was only 9 months old.

Cruz was devastated when an older female lawyer at a summer placement job fair advised her to make no references to her child in talking with prospective employers. "I left crying - I thought 'I can't do this. I can't be a mother and a lawyer.' "

When she learned about Philly-MAMA, she began attending meetings for moral support. And she got it.

"I hear their stories and I tell myself that 'yes, I can do this.' "

For more information about Philly-MAMA, visit www.PhillyMAMA.org or call 215-545-7676.