Author: Commander Wendeen Eolis

At the annual cornerstone meeting of the International Women’s Forum in Morocco last week, corporate, civic and political leaders from thirty countries convened to assess the state of affairs in the Arab world.

Morocco sees itself as setting a valuable example, exempting itself from the Arab Spring.  With considerable pride, our Moroccan sisters praise their enlightened king who saw the need to modernize and adopt a process which led to elections and newly bifurcated power between the king and a newly elected prime minister.

That said, there remains in Morocco a continuing but slow evolution of respect for women.  An invitation from His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco to visit his palace morphed into a grand and beautiful reception at one of his palaces outside the capitol.  His wife, Princess Lalla Salma, presided without the king at her side.  Her Serene Highness is the first wife of a Moroccan ruler to have a royal title conferred.

The esteemed women speakers from around the world were gracious in recognizing Morocco’s forward thinking accomplishments, while direct about all that is left to do in bringing true equality to women in Arab countries—Morocco included.

More than 25 percent of the firms’ New York partners (as of January 2012), have bolted from its ranks, many with hair-raising stories of a firm in all manner of disarray. This sad state of affairs is a bonanza for recruiters and trade journalists.

The firm’s misfortunes become opportunities, gossip is easily treated as gospel. For all of us who are in the legal community, it is worth noting that hundreds, if not thousands of lawyers and staff remain uncertain as to their work and/or economic future.