University of Florida Levin College of Law Dean Laura Rosenbury is an expert on gender bias issues in the legal profession. The Harvard Law School graduate who majored in women’s studies as an undergraduate at Harvard-Radcliffe says overt gender bias in Florida’s law firms may be slowly improving, but implicit bias is still a problem. Last year, when a speaker introduced her as “vivacious,” she used it as a teaching moment, citing it as an example of a well-intentioned comment that demonstrated implicit gender bias, as the word would not have been used to introduce a man.
Rosenbury talked to The Daily Business Review about the state of gender bias in the legal system. Her comments have been edited for length and clarity.
