The Invisible Bar

In this history of women lawyers in America, a New York attorney traces the 350-year-old struggle that, to a certain degree, is still being waged in some form today. As late as 1950, for example, women who had crashed the barriers of Harvard Law School were subjected to a ""Ladies Day'' ritual in which they recited for the amusement of all-male classes. As Morello tells the stories of the women who helped promote justice, beginning with Margaret Brent, the first woman lawyer in America, who arrived in the colonies in 1638, and ending with the first female Supreme Court Justice, she shows their commonalityan unwillingness to be cowed professionally because of their gender. Rich in entertaining anecdotes and finely researched, the survey makes heady reading. Illustrations not seen by PW. (October 30