BOOKS
BOOKS
NEW RELEASE - AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER:
Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges
Her Honor: Stories of Challenge and Triumph from Women Judges features personal stories by and about some of the country’s most respected female judges. At a time when surveys reveal declining trust in our courts, this book offers reasons for hope and even pride. Her Honor features a collection of personal stories by and about some of the country's most respected female judges. Each chapter author openly shares nuanced stories of challenges and successes, including the inequality, bias, and other barriers they faced and overcame in their lives.
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The 25 judges featured in Her Honor are from all levels of the state and federal courts, including Chief Judges and two Supreme Court Justices. Their moving stories will be all too recognizable by women who may currently be experiencing similar challenges and biases in their own careers.
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Her Honor also demonstrates how the best of our judges share a passion for ensuring an accessible and fair system of justice, without a political agenda. They reveal a deep compassion for humanity along with an abiding respect for the law, respecting precedent but acting with courage if the law offers a way forward. All the judges in this book have lived lives of deep influence. The stories shared will extend that influence further and inspire future generations to persevere in their careers during even the most difficult times.
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The Shield of Silence: How Power Perpetuates a Culture of Harassment and Bullying in the Workplace
Combining detailed research, extensive interviews, and strategic recommendations for addressing workplace misconduct and the silence that fuels it, The Shield of Silence documents the link between the creation of a respectful, inclusive, and diverse workplace culture and the elimination of negative workplace behaviors. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in stopping harassment and negative behaviors.
The Shield of Silence compellingly argues that sexual harassment and misconduct will not be stopped unless the condition that drives victims and bystanders into silence—the overriding fear that reporting misconduct will result in retaliation—is eliminated. The book also:
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Examines the cultural and societal norms that allow misconduct and negative behaviors in the workplace to flourish
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Identifies structures, power dynamics, and behaviors that need to change to protect victims rather than those accused of misconduct
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Recommends a wide range of strategies and tactics to address incidents of sexual harassment and other negative behaviors
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Describes ways to create a respectful, inclusive, and diverse workplace culture
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Addresses ways to implement a transparent process for reporting and investigating complaints
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Demonstrates how to support victims and bystanders and ensure that neither their employment status nor workplace opportunities are jeopardized
Silence is the protective barrier that shields perpetrators of negative behaviors. Deeply entrenched workplace dynamics ultimately prevent victims from accessing the very systems that are supposed to protect them. Accessible and universal in focus, The Shield of Silence provides a road map for creating the cultural change required to end misconduct and the silence that surrounds it.
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What reviewers are saying about The Shield of Silence:
Book Look: The Shield of Silence
Books: Raising the Alarm
Shield of Silence Delivers Clear Message to Readers
Verdict: It’s a Keeper
The Young Lawyer: Breaking the Shield of Silence
Workplace Culture and Best Practices in the Wake of #MeToo
Book Review: The Shield of Silence
Lauren Rikleen’s The Shield of Silence
Book Review and Q&A with Lauren Stiller Rikleen, Author of the Shield of Silence
Professional Development Quarterly Book Review
Why Women Leave: Culture of Abuse, Silence, and Retaliation
You Raised Us - Now Work With Us: Millennials, Career Success, and Building Strong Workplace Teams
As the Millennial generation becomes an increasing percentage of the workplace, they are confronting sweeping – and unfair - stereotypes about their generation. At the same time, many in this generation are wondering just how far the accomplishments of their childhood can take them in a workplace that has changed dramatically since the prolonged economic downturn. They worry about what it means to have been told all their lives to study hard and follow their dreams, only to feel overwhelmed by choices, buried in historically high student loan debt, and thwarted by what they perceive as an outdated workplace structure.
You Raised Us - Now Work With Us provides nuanced insights, detailed research, and practical advice to help the generations understand each other better and recognize the impact of their own behaviors on the workplace. The book will help Boomers and Gen Xers respond to the opportunities that Millennials bring by offering practical recommendations for effective leadership and talent development. It also will help Millennials navigate their way through the complexities of today’s work environment. This book is an indispensable resource for Millennials, Gen Xers, and Baby Boomers wanting to bring out the best in each other and enhance their own career success while identifying opportunities to make needed changes in the workplace that will benefit everyone.
“Read this book if you want to get beyond stereotypes and understand millennials and the workplace. Lauren Rikleen provides terrific practical insight that will help employers harness the talent of millennials in the workplace. Whether you are a parent, an educator, or an employer, this book will help you understand the dynamics of the millennial generation. Buy the book. Give it to your friends. They will thank you.”
- David P. Angel, President, Clark University
The path to success for lawyers is harder than ever. Excellence at one’s craft is simply a baseline. Lawyers also face the challenges of developing a specialty, maintaining and bringing in new clients, undertaking organizational leadership roles, participating in professional associations, and engaging in one’s community. Each of these challenges can represent either tremendous opportunity or overwhelming stress.
Ladder Down offers lawyers – and law students – a guidepost for meeting the challenges of law practice with a sense of excitement at what the future holds. It is written for women and men who seek a satisfying career in the law and offers an easy-to-read, hopeful, and optimistic view of a profession that has been under siege, while providing concrete tips for and strategies for building and sustaining a career in the law. The book reminds lawyers why they went to law school, and helps them reclaim their enthusiasm for practicing law.
In Ladder Down, well-known author Lauren Stiller Rikleen offers an easy-to-read, hopeful, optimistic view of a profession that has been under siege. It reminds lawyers why they went to law school and helps them reclaim their enthusiasm for practicing law.
Ladder Down is the perfect resource for lawyers and law students who seek practical and accessible strategies for success in the legal profession.
Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law
This meticulously researched book has been called one of the best business books written about the legal profession. Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law analyzes critical aspects of law firm life which present roadblocks to the retention and advancement of women: management, the assignment process, billable-hour demands, business development, compensation, mentoring, attrition, and firm policies and practices affecting how lawyers address their work/family challenges.
Ending the Gauntlet is the result of two years of research and interviews with women lawyers and law firm managers from around the country. Drawing extensively on a wide range of research across multiple disciplines, the book has broad applicability to other professional settings. The stories and strategies are particularly relevant today in light of the continued low rate of women advancing to equity partner status, the increasing attrition among senior women, the lack of compensation equity, and the impact of all these issues on Millennials entering the workplace today. This book is particularly important reading for anyone in a position of management at a law firm, offering concrete steps law firms can and should implement to decrease costly attrition and provide equal opportunities for all of their high talent professionals.
Book Chapters
Foreword for Infinitely More: Choosing Freedom, A Career Mom’s Turning Point, Amy Conway-Hatcher, (New Degree Press, 2021)
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HBR Special Issue: How to Lead in a Time of Crisis (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2020), “In New Jersey, Good Crisis Management Has Mitigated Sandy’s Impact”
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Gen Z in COVID’s Cross-Hairs – Conversations to Strengthen Multi-Generational Teams, Human Capital in the New Legal Ecosystem (book chapter), ARK Group (2020)
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HBR Guide for Women at Work: Overcome bias, Project confidence, Negotiate for more, (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2019), "Older Women Are Being Forced Out of the Workforce" (book chapter) 189-193
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Her Story: Lessons in Success From Lawyers Who Live It, ed. Teresa Marie Beck, Jacqueline Mecchella Bushwack, Shayna Michele Steinfeld (Chicago: American Bar Association, 2017), The Millennial Generation: An Emerging Force of Change," and "The Big Picture" (book chapters), 10-14, 299-303
Breaking Barriers: The Unfinished Story of Women Lawyers and Judges in Massachusetts, ed. Patti B. Saris, Margot Botsford & Barbara F. Berenson (New York: Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc., 2012), "Private Practice: Partners, Associates and Corporate Counsel" (book chapter) 267-73
Reaching the Bar: Stories of Women at All Stages of Their Law Careers, ed. Robin Saxe (New York: Kaplan Publishing, 2009), "Working to Advance Women – Continuing the Legacy" (book chapter), 191-8
Reports
Survey of Workplace Conduct and Behaviors in Law Firms, The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, June 2018
Closing the Gap: A Road Map for Achieving Gender Pay Equity in Law Firm Partner Compensation, American Bar Association, August 2013
Power in Law: Lessons from the 2011 Women's Power Summit on Law and Leadership, co-authored by Linda Bray Chanow, University of Texas School of Law Center for Women in Law, (January 2012)
Success Strategies for Women Lawyers (Ark Group, 2010)
From Here to Flexibility in Law Firms: Can It Be Done? (MIT Workplace Center, 2004)