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Her Father's Partner
It happened in Chicago in 1915. The young woman had been sworn in as a lawyer. Then the judge, leaning interestedly from the bench, asked: Miss McClanahan, are you really going to practice law?
Startled, the neophyte uttered an astonished "Yes!"
This wouldn't happen now, but it was still happening then. Practicing lady lawyers were scarce. Alice McClanahan, who had secretly envisioned herself as her father's partner since her pinafore days, had announced her intention, at sixteen, of studying for the bar--a revolutionary decision for that time and place. The Chicago Herald Examiner had front-paged the fact that she had passed the Bar Examination--and it was not considered very ladylike to appear in the news, either.
But all that was soon past. Alice McClanahan became an attorney, then head attorney for the Legal Aid Society. She left to become counsel for a business firm, but found the going too easy--she missed the fascination of her constant courtroom activity. Then her little-girl dream came true: she became her father's partner--McClanahan and McClanahan--an association which continued until his death in 1940.
Now an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, Illinois, Alice McClanahan has written more than an autobiography. In thumbnail sketches she pictures the human current of drama--the tragedies, the comedies, the oddments, the serio-comic situations which are the stuff off which courtroom scenes are made; the marital mixups, the unwanted children, the sparks that fly from routine cases involving accidents, insurance, wills.
In the courts, says Miss McClanahan, "You see life in the raw. You will be completely disillusioned. But you will substitute for roseate dreams of human nature a tolerant, kindly understanding of human weaknesses and faults. . . . Your faith and belief in right will serve you in good stead."
"Each day promises something new and interesting. Even though disagreeable, it's forever stimulating. Could there be a substitute for human interest and the hope of helping and correcting a situation?"
And now, "Retire? Never!" says Alice McClanahan. "So long as I can get into such a glow over legal tangles and the possible unsnarling thereof, I have no wish to take to the old rocking chair and let time roll over me. Rather (I ask myself) why not just keep going till the gas gives out? And that is what I mean to do."
Startled, the neophyte uttered an astonished "Yes!"
This wouldn't happen now, but it was still happening then. Practicing lady lawyers were scarce. Alice McClanahan, who had secretly envisioned herself as her father's partner since her pinafore days, had announced her intention, at sixteen, of studying for the bar--a revolutionary decision for that time and place. The Chicago Herald Examiner had front-paged the fact that she had passed the Bar Examination--and it was not considered very ladylike to appear in the news, either.
But all that was soon past. Alice McClanahan became an attorney, then head attorney for the Legal Aid Society. She left to become counsel for a business firm, but found the going too easy--she missed the fascination of her constant courtroom activity. Then her little-girl dream came true: she became her father's partner--McClanahan and McClanahan--an association which continued until his death in 1940.
Now an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, Illinois, Alice McClanahan has written more than an autobiography. In thumbnail sketches she pictures the human current of drama--the tragedies, the comedies, the oddments, the serio-comic situations which are the stuff off which courtroom scenes are made; the marital mixups, the unwanted children, the sparks that fly from routine cases involving accidents, insurance, wills.
In the courts, says Miss McClanahan, "You see life in the raw. You will be completely disillusioned. But you will substitute for roseate dreams of human nature a tolerant, kindly understanding of human weaknesses and faults. . . . Your faith and belief in right will serve you in good stead."
"Each day promises something new and interesting. Even though disagreeable, it's forever stimulating. Could there be a substitute for human interest and the hope of helping and correcting a situation?"
And now, "Retire? Never!" says Alice McClanahan. "So long as I can get into such a glow over legal tangles and the possible unsnarling thereof, I have no wish to take to the old rocking chair and let time roll over me. Rather (I ask myself) why not just keep going till the gas gives out? And that is what I mean to do."
122 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
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January 1, 2026
Highly recommended. With warmth and humor, McClanahan recounts her tale of becoming a lawyer in the 1910s, and tells tales of some of her memorable cases. She concludes with a chapter of advice for women who want to become lawyers. If you can get your hands on a copy (they’re hard to find) this is a must read.
Displaying 1 of 1 review