By: Nicole Spicer
At first glance when I picked up the book “The Watergate Girl: My Fight for Truth and Justice Against a Criminal President” by Jill Wine-Banks, I noticed her outfit. Believe me, I get it, that is not the point of the book or of the important work she has done in her career. But that picture captured a moment in time, it had the feel of the 1970s fashion, and it depicts a woman smiling even as she dealt with the press regularly during an unbelievably crazy political and legal era. After spending an evening with the author as part of the Special Author event presented by the Decalogue Society and co-hosted with the CBA Alliance for Women, the ISBA Standing Committee on Women and the Law, and the WBAI on September 25, 2024, I had new appreciation for the cover photo and truly how purposeful that choice of photo was. Ms. Wine-Banks brought up the title of her book in her discussion. She was appalled that her publishers at first suggested “Watergate Girl” because she was not and is not just a girl. Her publishers pointed out that it was important because the term “girl” captured that time too, and during her time as a young attorney she and her female colleagues were indeed often referred to as “girls.” I love this. I don’t love the diminutive term, but I love that her story illustrates a time and a history that we female lawyers should be aware of. Partly to appreciate how far we collectively have come, but also to notice and thank those who came before us and truly pioneered being a woman in law.
Jill (she was so down to earth I feel like she would be okay with my informal use of her name) gave us a truly fascinating night of stories from not just her time on the Watergate trial, but the hurdles she had faced in gaining employment as a female attorney. Some examples of the absurdity she faced? Questions asked at an interview: What kind of birth control do you use? How many kids do you plan to have? WHAT? It was all I could do not to audibly gasp at the birth control question. Today that question at an interview would be ripe for a lawsuit, but for Jill at that time it was normal and accepted.
Our evening with Jill was filled with so many great stories that I literally filled up three pages of notes for my article. The lovely thing is that you don’t need to have an evening with Jill to really get an idea of how unique it was to be a female lawyer in the 1970s and 1980s. You just need to read her book! The book is filled with fascinating stories about what it meant to lose faith in the United States President (a novelty in the 70s), to battle to be taken seriously and equally with her male counterparts, to build a career while also suffering through a difficult and disappointing marriage. Her personal side of the book really underscores how amazing it is that she achieved everything she did. Leaving a marriage at that time was not taken lightly and being a career woman was a novelty. Jill did it all with grace and humor, and to this day she keeps fighting the good fight.
I think we, as women, think of the really BIG names for female pioneers in law, like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Sandra Day O’Connor. You know what? Jill Wine-Banks is now on my list of females that every single woman going into legal practice should know about. What Jill did was ground-breaking and scary and difficult and to this day, she is STILL doing it. She participates regularly in two podcasts, she works as a commentator for MSNBC, and she still fights for the ERA. I grew up in the 80s so I know about the ERA, but for those generations younger than me, do you know what the ERA is? (hint, it stands for Equal Rights Amendment). Do you know how hard women fought for it? And did you know we STILL aren’t truly equals in the eyes of the law? We have come a long way, such a long way since Jill began practicing as a young woman. But you know what? There is still work to be done and I for one am thankful Jill is out there still speaking up, speaking out, and sharing what it took to get there.
Go read the book, I promise, you won’t regret it.
This article was originally published in the WBAI Winter 2025 Newsletter on page 24.