Rita Sheffey
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Sheffey was the recipient of the 2004 H. Sol Clark Award from the State Bar of Georgia, the 2005 Outstanding Woman in the Profession Award from the Atlanta Bar Association Women in the Profession Section, the 2009 Rachel Champagne Leadership Award from Atlanta Victim Assistance, the 2010 EPIC Inspiration Award for Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need from the Emory School of Law, a 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the Atlanta Bar Association and the 2011 Kathleen Kessler Award from the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers.
It’s been a busy year for Rita Sheffey, partner at Hunton & Williams and president of the Atlanta Bar Association, only the sixth woman to hold that position in the association’s 123-year history. In addition to her year-long stint as president of the 6,000-plus member legal association, Sheffey continues to practice as a litigator in the often complex areas of environmental law, trademark infringement and intellectual property. She devotes much of her time providing and promoting pro bono work; she spearheaded development and is now director of the firm’s Southside Legal Center, a neighborhood legal clinic.
Womenetics: You changed career paths from chemistry to the law. What drew you to the legal profession?
Rita Sheffey: I needed more interaction with people. I wanted more of a focus on service and relationships, which is what I originally wanted to do. I got into chemistry as a major in college because I was thinking about a career in medicine. I wanted to be a country doctor. When I didn’t get into medical school, I stayed in chemistry to the point of graduate school and a Ph.D. I was doing a two-year, post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard when I decided I wanted to make a switch and go into law. I was working mostly in the lab with a little bit of teaching. It really was isolated, and that’s what caused me to switch.
Womenetics: What are your particular areas of interest in your practice? What about those fields excites you?
Sheffey: I’m primarily a litigator, so I’m a trial lawyer. I most often handle cases in environmental litigation and patent and trademark infringement litigation, intellectual property. To me the fields are intellectually stimulating. They’re complex areas, and they’re large cases that usually involve a number of experts. I enjoy talking with the experts.
Womenetics: You sound like a student, someone who loves to learn.
Sheffey: I think that’s probably true. One of the things that drew me to litigation is that every case is different, and you get to learn a lot of different industries. It’s always something new.
Womenetics: Is there a particular case or client you can look back on and say, "That changed me." Can you elaborate on what happened and how it affected you or the way you do your work?
Sheffey: The one that comes to mind was the first opportunity I had to be in a jury trial. I think I was a second or third year associate. It stands out to me because it got me in the courtroom as a fairly young lawyer, and it affirmed that (my career choice) was a good decision for me. I enjoyed it. Despite the working around the clock and “hard duty,” I realized that it was what I was looking for. It was a great experience for me and a great experience in dealing with the client.
I had a wonderful in-house client that I kept in touch with for years. He gave me one of the best compliments I can recall. He described me as “lawyer’s lawyer.” I’m not sure I knew what that meant at the time, but I now see it as a tremendous compliment.
Womenetics: What does that compliment mean, a “lawyer’s lawyer”?
Sheffey: In the situation he was referring to, it was that I knew what was important to him. It was that he was important, not just the matter or the case; the relationship was important. He was saying that I was sensitive to the relationship and what he was dealing with. It all boiled down to the relationship.
Womenetics: You are so passionate about pro bono work. Why do you believe it's so vital to a lawyer's career?
Sheffey: It’s part of who we are, number one. It’s part of being a lawyer; we have a monopoly on practicing law and providing legal services. No one else can provide legal services, and there are increasing numbers of people today who can’t afford a lawyer and whose access to justice and the legal system is restricted because of that. Pro bono work is part of who we are, but it’s also part of who we need to be.
Womenetics: How have you urged your Atlanta colleagues, Hunton & Williams, to achieve 100 percent participation in pro bono services for the past four years? Is it uncommon to have such across the board buy-in to the pro bono side of legal services?
Sheffey: I didn’t do this alone, and it’s not something that happened overnight. Also, firm wide, our attorneys (in the U.S.) have achieved 100 percent participation for the past two years, almost going on three. It was a combination of things; the short answer from my perspective is one person at a time. The broader answer is that the firm and its management made it a priority. It helped a lot that we had a history of service, including pro bono service, and that our firm’s managing partner and executive committee and all the team heads said it was a priority.
On the individual and local level, I’ve always tried to find things that interest people individually. It’s not one size fits all. I look for opportunities to find things that my colleagues are passionate about.
The primary way we get pro bono matters is because of the relationships I have with the legal services and pro bono providers locally because I served on the boards of several of them and have close relationships. But it’s not uncommon for a lawyer to come to me to tell me they’re interested in a particular subject, and I will help them find something. We also have our own legal clinic, and we generate referrals through that clinic.
Womenetics: What responsibilities did becoming president of the Atlanta Bar Association add to your plate?
Sheffey: A lot more meetings. I became president a year earlier than expected, because the lawyer ahead of me ran for a seat on the Georgia Court of Appeals and won. He chose to focus on his new job ,and I moved up a year earlier.
I’m a very hands-on, organized person. I want to leave the organization better than I found it, which is true of everything I try to do.
Womenetics: What sort of imprint do you expect to leave on the ABA? Did you go in with an agenda?
Sheffey: Every president comes in with an agenda of some type. Mine hasn’t been focused on a particular project, it’s been focused on making sure that as a voluntary membership association we’re providing value for our member’s dues and that we’re providing good value for our sponsors. Much of what I’ve done has been foundational - renegotiating our lease for our office space, expanding our office space and hiring a new executive director.
Our members don’t have to join our bar. We want people to want to join us so we have to make sure we’re providing the types of programs, networking and continuing education opportunities they want.
Womenetics: Often women who achieve roles as the head of a professional association don't want to be thought of as a "woman president" but merely a "president." Are we there yet? And does gender stymie women in the legal profession?
Sheffey: We’re not there yet. I’m both a “president” and a “woman president.” You can’t ignore the fact that in the 123 year history of the Atlanta Bar, with 104 presidents, that I’m only the sixth female to be president. I don’t think most people think of me as a woman president. I hope they think of me as Rita Sheffey, president of the Atlanta Bar. It’s changing; the next president in line is also a female.
I do think gender can stymie women in the profession, though I don’t believe I’ve felt it personally. There are still challenges -- pay disparity is an issue, still. If you look at the number and percentage of women coming into law firms, we’re not promoting as many of them at the partner level. There is still a lot of room for progress. We have a lot of wonderful organizations that are focused on women - to help encourage, mentor and promote women.
Womenetics: Did you have mentors, male or female or both? How did they help you?
Sheffey: I guess it depends on how you define a mentor. If it means someone who encourages you and tries to help you achieve your potential and support you in that then, obviously, the best mentor I ever had was my mom who told me as I was growing up that I could do anything I set my mind to. That was probably the best encouragement.
In terms of professionally, there weren’t many senior women or litigation partners when I was coming up through the ranks. There were several men that I was comfortable asking questions and talking to about my future, but I haven’t had any one person that was a life-long career-type mentor. I’ve had mentors with respect to the Bar Association work, men mostly - people I’ve watched and liked the way they led organizations. I’ve tried to emulate things they’ve done.
Womenetics: I assume you’ve turned around and tried to mentor young women in the profession?
Sheffey: I hope so. I hope I do it by being a good example, but I’ve also, in the past couple of years, tried to make time to spend with younger, female attorneys — some in public interest and some in private firms — to listen to what they’re interested in, answer their questions and offer advice when asked. I realize how important that is.
Womenetics: Is it important to have gender specific mentors? Do you think young male lawyers are willing to be mentored by a female partner?
Sheffey: I would hope so, and I don’t see why not. Currently one of the younger lawyers I work most closely with is a young male. I hope I’m going to be and am a good mentor to him.
Anybody can be a good mentor. It just requires giving of yourself and making time to do that. I do think there’s benefit in having someone who looks like you and someone who may have a particular understanding of your challenges and circumstances because we do face some different challenges.
Womenetics: What types of challenges?
Sheffey: We touched on it earlier -- pay disparity and disparity in women achieving leadership positions in traditionally male areas. Some women tend to be less assertive about opportunities to move up; we can be our own worst enemies. We should be better about talking about our strengths and merits. I do tell some of the younger women that if you’re trying to achieve “balance” you might never get there. You just have to figure out what works for you.
Womenetics: What makes you laugh out loud?
Sheffey: This is a great question and I wish I had a great answer. I think something incongruous, something unexpected, makes me laugh. Something that will really date me is the old Lucille Ball show when she’s in the chocolate factory having to deal with all the challenges. Maybe it’s because I feel some challenges this year keeping up with things.
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Patty Rasmussen is an Atlanta-based freelance writer. She spent 12 years covering the Atlanta Braves for ChopTalk Magazine and has written for Major League Baseball publications, Georgia Trend magazine, WebMD, and Blue Ridge Country.
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