The Lady in Pants

I tapped my steering wheel to the beat of the music as my head bobbed along. My destination was only five minutes away and the interview was scheduled for twenty minutes after arrival. The call was completely unexpected, but it got my heart pumping with excitement. I spent the entire evening prior picking what to wear, prepping my hair, practicing answers to potential questions, and gathering important paperwork I hoped would help me stand out against other candidates. As I looked over the outfit laid in front of me, I made a last-minute choice to wear dress pants instead of a pencil skirt.

For five years I have practiced law in small claims court while writing true crime stories - and continuing my education to broaden my opportunities in criminal defense. That was my dream. I wanted to do that type of work I researched and wrote about in my books. This opportunity was small but had the potential to be bigger. A paralegal at a criminal defense attorney's office would be the perfect place to start, and it wasn't just any attorney's office. William P. McCall was a highly demanded and sought-after criminal defense attorney, running his own firm with others below him. He was a man who became a witness to the good, the bad, and the ugly of some of his clients and still came into work every day.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the firm I took note of the large office windows and the silhouettes of people moving about behind them. My heart sank a little when I noticed the figures of the silhouettes were more masculine and if there was a woman inside the building I had yet to notice. I tried to shake out my nerves and wiped my clammy hands on her pants. There was still time before the interview and I turned up the radio hoping the music would calm my nerves. Emmy Meli's voice sang to me through the stereo - I am woman, I am fearless - I let the words of the song speak to me and remind me what I was here to do. The door of my Camry shut behind me and I paused to take in the sign on the building MCCALL LAW FIRM.

When I stepped into the office there was a petite woman with long dark hair sitting at the front desk. She wore a tight black dress that fell just above her knee and her face was beautifully painted with makeup. If she hadn't been perched at the front desk of a law firm I would've assumed she had a dinner date at a high-end restaurant. As I approached her desk she sported a lovely white smile and greeted me with a soft sweet voice, "Good afternoon, do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, I have a meeting with Attorney McCall at two in regards to the paralegal position." I smiled at her. The look on her face changed to one of confusion as she typed rapidly on her keyboard.

"Are you Tyler Kennedy?"

"That is correct." I continued to hold my smile in hopes it would hide the nervous look threatening to show on my face.

"Alright, you can have a seat. Attorney McCall should be with you shortly." She stood from her desk and fixed her dress. I watched her walk to an office in the far back corner, her heels clicking the entire way. Men sat in cubicles across the office, some were at printers gathering documents, a few were standing by a water dispenser chatting, and the only other woman in the office was returning to her desk.

I looked down at my outfit. The black slacks I wore were form-fitting but modest, professional, and my red blouse added a nice pop of color. I was a taller woman so dressy flats were a better choice for me compared to the petite front desk woman in her heels. I had a small black briefcase with me that held all of the important documents that represented my accomplishments. A stocky man in a suit made his way towards the front desk, nodding occasionally at the men in their cubicles. Their attention was drawn towards me as their eyes followed him. As he approached I stood and reached out my hand to introduce myself. "Attorney McCall?" He nodded briefly and reached out his hand. "Tyler Kennedy. It is lovely to meet you."

"Tyler? That's an interesting name for a woman. Follow me to my office." I gathered my briefcase and followed behind him. His comment left me feeling unsure of how the rest of our interaction would go. Men's eyes followed me practically burning holes through me. The office was made of glass, there was a view of the freeway just a mile or two away on the outside, and from the inside an entire view of the office. A tidy desk sat directly in the middle of the room, bookshelves were scattered again different walls their shelves filled with trophies, certificates, and textbooks on law.

He motioned for me to sit in the hot seat directly in front of his desk. "So, Miss Kennedy, you're here in regards to the paralegal position?"

"Yes, sir, I have worked for just about five years as an attorney for small claims. However, my dream has always been to further my skills and become a certified attorney in criminal law." I opened my briefcase and began pulling out documents and placing them in front of him for review.

"You do understand that this is a paralegal position, you will not representing any defendents." His tone was strange and caused me to pause.

I nodded. "Yes, I am fully aware of the position. As you can see one of the documents I just handed you is my most recent transcript from Harvard Law. I am currently working towards becoming a criminal defense attorney, however, while I am in this kind of opportunity would give me some experience before I am able to practice individually. In your hand, you will also find my paralegal certifications."

He pulled a small pair of readers from a drawer in his desk and further examined my documents. The room was silent, and I kept looking behind him to the freeway awaiting the silence to be broken. "Why Tyler?"

"Excuse me?" He put the documents on his desk and removed his readers placing them on top.

"Why the name Tyler? Why not a more feminine name, like Allison, or Courtney. The lovely lady at the front desk her name is Bianca. I'm just fascinated that your parents would give their daughter such a masculine name." I was caught off guard by his comment.

"They waited to find out my gender and I guess had really hoped for a boy, and my dad decided they should stick with the name. I'm not really sure why my name is of such importance?" I question. It didn't make sense to why he was stuck on it.

He motioned to the window behind me where his colleagues were working dilligently. "As you may have noticed, this is a primarily man dominated office. We work hard individually and as a team, each man out there is extremely dedicated. You will also notice that you are unable to see the front desk from any of their desks. Women in this office tend to be a distraction and there are some pretty serious cases that come in here where we men can't afford to be distracted. From all of your documentation, I can see you have been extremely successful, however, the clients and work entailed in this office might be too much for a woman. You can't bring emotion to this position, and that is why you see men running this office."

I felt taken aback. One of the top defense attorneys in criminal law was denouncing my abilities based on my gender. He handed me back the documentation and put away his readers. As he stood to signal for me to leave I managed to gather my thoughts and find my voice. "While studying for my first degree at Franklin Pierce School of Law, I worked two jobs while interning at a local attorneys office. During this time I began researching crimes and writing about them. Before I graduated, top of my class mind you, I had published two books. I continued to work two jobs and received my paralegal certification and the office where I interned hired me. A year later, I took my first small claims case. It isn't criminal law, but I take it just as serious. In five years, I have lost maybe two of the many cases I have taken on. That gives me an extremely high success rate. One of my most recent books was an Amazon top pick and won a Reader's Digest Self-Published Book award. If you're looking for hard work and dedication from anyone, you are just as likely to find it in me as you would in anyone with a nutsack."

"If men are going to find themselves distracted by my presence it won't be because of some tight black dress, as Bianca clearly sports around. It will be because I will not stop until I am successful and they may feel their man pride is at stake. Clearly, you have found that yours is if you won't even consider hiring a woman for a legal position she is overly qualified for. Since I have studied law and practiced it, I have a significant background in it. I know the laws on equal opportunity in the workplace. I would hate to have to go the labor board against your practiced Attorney McCall and turn this into a big todo, but would be more than happy to represent myself in the case. Again, I have quite the success rate." McCall was too dumbfounded to speak. He gradually returned to his seat in a daze as if he were punched directly in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

He cleared his throat before speaking. He kept opening his mouth as if to say something but no words came out. Finally they came to him, "Now Miss Kennedy, there is no question that the reason I had my receptionist reach out to you is because I thought, based on your name, that you were a highly successful man. Clearly, I was mistaken. You are a highly successful woman, and it has come to my attention that, beyond your success, you are impeccable at arguing your case." He paused for a moment. My heart rate was finally returning to normal after that rush of adrenaline. I felt like I could catch my breath but my nerves remained shot and my hands clammy. "I don't have the time to deal with the labor board about laws I too know very well. I guess this is a coming of age moment for my office, and if you would still like the job, I would be more than happy to have you on board. Maybe these men could learn a thing or two about assertion from you."

It was invigorating. In any other circumstance, my tangent would have had me removed immediately. Still holding the upperhand over McCall I smiled brightly, "I would need to give my current firm notice, can I call you back in regards to the position and a start date?" He nodded and stood. When he shook my hand there was a feeling of respect in his grip. As I waltzed out of the office the feeling of eyes was no longer noticeable. I took a deep breath as I slumped into my car and took the moment to finally wipe my hands on my pants. The first woman to work as a paralegal at the McCAll Law Firm, she made note to add that to her achievements when she returned home.