On Thursday, November 17th, the lecture topic in my Women and the Law class was "Women and the Legal Profession."
This usually means "Women and the Legal Profession in the U.S."
This semester, since my students are working in groups with students from Moldova on their legal research papers (about human trafficking), I thought it would be appropriate for students to hear from a woman lawyer in the region.
We were so pleased that Diana Neagu, a partner of the law firm of Vernon|David (offices in Bucharest, Romania and Chisinau, Moldova) and head of its Banking and Finance Division, was able to speak to our class -- skyping with us from Bucharest, Romania.
We asked Diana to speak about her decision to become a lawyer, legal training in Romania, what it is like to practice law as a woman.
After covering these topics, Diana answered quite a broad array of questions about the kinds of cases she works on, how law firms are structured, the health care system in Romania, the EU (and what kinds of changes took place in Romania following its accession into the EU in 2007; the relationship between EU and national law), government and politics (and issues of corruption) in Romania and in Moldova....
When it came to issues such as family and medical leave, students were shocked to learn that women can take a year of maternity leave with 85% of their salary (and an additional year without pay without losing their jobs) -- and that people who are sick can go to the doctor, under the national health care system -- and that university students do not pay tuition.
Learning more about women and the legal profession in Romania (along with other political and legal issues) was a wonderful complement to the assigned readings and lecture material that focused exclusively on the U.S.
You can learn more about the law firm of Vernon|David at www.vdalegal.com
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