Rachlin Merges; Older Male Judges Discuss What Women Attorneys Are Wearing

Many of us have hired these guys as experts over the years, and I see the firm is merging and changing its name:

South Florida's eighth-largest accounting firm, Rachlin LLP, is merging with Marcum & Kliegman LLP, the largest accounting firm on New York’s Long Island.

Newsletter Inside Public Accounting ranked Marcum & Kliegman the nation's 23rd-largest accounting firm for 2008, with net revenue of $123.26 million. It had a 28 percent growth rate.

Miami-based Rachlin ranked 81st, with $36 million in net revenue and a 3 percent growth rate.

After the June 1 merger, the combined firm will be known as Marcum in the Northeast, and Rachlin will change its name to MarcumRachlin, a division of Marcum LLP.

Laurie Holtz, Barry Mukamal, all good guys who have helped many of us out on plenty of occasions.

Congrats, fellas!

Switching gears but I couldn't hold this for Friday, what do you make of this discussion at a recent 7th Circuit Bar Association meeting:

Noting that there weren't many women in the audience to hear her message, Lefkow suggested that lawyers address the "delicate issue" with female colleagues at their firms.

As it turned out, one of the male judges on the dais with her, and the male lawyers in the audience at the Indianapolis meeting, had plenty to say right away about the issue. It had been bothering them, too, perhaps in a slightly different way.

Women come into court wearing "skirts so short that there's no way they can sit down and blouses so short there's no way the judges wouldn't look," said Judge Michael McCuskey, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois and a panel member.

Murmuring in the audience quickly rose into loud comments and laughter, with one female voice calling for someone to help save McCuskey from himself. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar, who presides in the Northern District of Illinois, came to his rescue from the audience, saying that McCuskey shouldn't be made to keep quiet about the matter because he too considers the issue "a huge problem." Sometimes it's so difficult that Goldgar said he wishes he could tell the female lawyer standing before him: "I'd really like to pay attention to your argument."

"You don't dress in court as if it's Saturday night and you're going out to a party," said Goldgar from the audience. "Dress as a serious person who takes the court seriously."

First of all, I've been to plenty of bar lunches and judicial events, and I've never heard talk like that at our conferences here in South Florida. Step it up, people!

Second, how many male lawyers do you know who have crappy suits, mismatched ties, or sometimes barely put on a jacket and scruffy shoes to shuffle down to Flagler? Yet these folks are fashion arbiters for women attorneys?

I'd like to pay attention to your argument too, but honestly you look like a total schlub who just woke up from a weekend bender.

And we all know the 7th Circuit has an oddball bench, but come on, guys.

A women is entitled to include whatever elements of their femininity they elect to incorporate into their overall professional appearance. Or not.

Same is true for a guy.

Of course some outfits are inappropriate in a professional context, no matter who is wearing it.

But a hint of our masculinity or femininity has long been a part of dressing for success.

Don't fear it -- embrace it.