Kathleen Blatz: legislator, lawyer, chief justice, role model

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Blatz believes she has

been given great respect by members of the bench and bar during her career,

and has not felt at all hindered by her gender.

“When I go to the Conference

of Chief Justices, I don’t feel that being a woman is any kind of a limitation,”

she says.

Blatz says that she,

like many people, was shaped by her parents. Blatz’s father was an attorney

and both of her parents were involved in politics. Following in the footsteps

of her mother — a social worker — Blatz earned a master’s degree in social

work when she was 24 years old. Six years later she followed in the footsteps

of her father and became an attorney.

Blatz says that, like

her parents, she has “always loved the law itself and public service,” but

acknowledges that not everyone follows the same path as they embark on their

legal careers.

“Some young people know

they want to be judges and some know that they want to be lawyers,” she

explains. “And then some people are music majors who later decide they want

to go to law school. For some it’s their life’s dream [to be a lawyer],

and then for some they just show up at law school.”

Blatz recalls that for

her it was a combination of both.

“I don’t ever remember

making the decision to go to law school; it was more like I flowed into

it,” she says. “Even when I was getting my master’s in social work I took

electives in law, not even knowing consciously that I would go to law school.

My dad even was surprised when I told him I had applied to law school. I

had never discussed it with him.”

Although Blatz does not

view her gender as an obstacle, she has experienced some personal career

hurdles — most notably, her young age when she took on very responsible

positions. As a rising star, Blatz has typically been younger than her colleagues.

Blatz entered government in her early 20s, and at age 45 is not only the

chief, but the second-youngest justice currently on the Minnesota Supreme

Court. (Associate Justice Joan Erickson Lancaster is only two-and-a-half

months younger than Blatz.)

Blatz was very young

when she began campaigning for a spot in the House of Representatives.

“People wouldn’t really

comment on my being a woman but they would ask how old I was,” she observes.

“I felt like I had to prove that I was older so I would tell them ‘I’m 23,

but I turn 24 next month!’ Was my age a hurdle? I don’t know.” However,

Blatz did note that despite her young age, she earned 58 percent of the

vote, beating out an incumbent.

Even though Blatz has

inspired many people as one of the youngest legislators and later as chief

justice of Minnesota’s highest court, she remains down-to-earth. She prefers

to discuss those who have had an impact on her rather than those she may

inspire.

“It would be kind of

grandiose for me to say that I’ve actually identified with or emulated the

people I respect in any way because I think I fall so far short,” says Blatz.

With that disclaimer, Blatz identifies three people who have inspired her

both personally and professionally:

• Sister

Camille Bowe, Blatz’s great-aunt;

• Mary Jo Copeland, who runs Caring and Sharing Hands and Mary’s Place;

and

• Dave Jennings, who was speaker of the House when Blatz was in the state

House of Representatives.

Blatz observes that Bowe

was the president of St. Theresa’s College in Winona, Minn. for 17 years.

Bowe earned her Ph.D. at the Sorbonne in France, at a time when very few

women went to college, let alone studied abroad, the chief justice notes.

“She was such a remarkable

woman, and quite a leader. But what I really loved about her was her interest

in other people,” Blatz says. “She had ambition and lots of responsibilities

professionally. But when you met her you might as well have been the center

of the universe, because she always made you feel that way.”

Copeland inspired Blatz

through her dedication to helping others and her personal integrity. Blatz

says she has admired Copeland “from afar for a long time.” She draws inspiration

from a comment Copeland made during a prayer before serving lunch at Caring

and Sharing Hands — “We’re not responsible for the result, we’re responsible

for the efforts.”

Blatz says she admires

Jennings because “he always knew what he stood for.” Blatz notes she didn’t

always agree with Jennings’ positions, but nevertheless admired his integrity.

“It’s easy to be popular,

it’s easy to be liked — and it’s easy to do nothing,” says Blatz. “Not that

you don’t want to be liked and popular, but you shouldn’t confuse having

a job with actually doing something. That’s something that I work at.”

Blatz says her family,

friends and colleagues help her to remain grounded and focused and to enjoy

life. One of nine children, Blatz says she was “never alone” growing up.

Even with the support

of family, friends and colleagues, Blatz’s life is far from stress-free.

However, the chief justice observes: “I think it’s healthy [stress] in the

sense that there is so much to be done and I’m in this incredible position

to do something about a lot of it. I do feel pressured and I do feel stressed,

but I would be more concerned if I didn’t feel it. I think for anyone who

feels really relaxed in this position, it’s probably time to move on.” Children’s

champion As a judge, Blatz would like to be remembered as being “very open

to understanding the facts” of each case and not prejudging the outcome,

while remaining “very committed to the law.”

Blatz believes it is

important for litigants to leave the courtroom feeling that they were heard

and dealt with fairly, and to leave with an understanding of the reasoning

why the case was decided the way it was. “The cases are not paper, they

are really about people — their children, their liberty, their business.

And that’s why I love the law. It doesn’t have to be cold.”

Blatz’s career has not

been without its frustrations. Blatz says that the issues that have frustrated

her the most are also closest to her heart — children’s issues. During her

career, first as a social worker, then as a legislator, and finally as a

lawyer and a judge, Blatz has worked to improve child protection services.

Blatz, who has three

children herself, said that her interest in children’s issues originated

long before they were born.

“I can’t deny that my

children influence me greatly, but I have to say the genesis of [my interest

in children’s issues] was my work with child abuse [in the Legislature],”

Blatz observes.

Blatz was in the House

of Representatives during the early 1980s when allegations of child abuse

broke out in Scott County. She co-chaired a committee aimed at creating

legislation to combat child abuse. Her work in that arena has been “extremely

rewarding” but has also left her frustrated at times.

“I became steeped in

the law of child abuse,” Blatz observes. “That was my niche. I wanted to

know what happens to these children after they come into the system. How

many years are they in the system, how many chances do we give their parents?”

Blatz adds that her background in social work also led her to champion children’s

issues.

As chief justice of Minnesota’s

highest court, Blatz has obviously not been held back by her gender. But

Blatz is certainly cognizant that there was a time when women were simply

not taken seriously as attorneys.

“It’s really a rewarding

time in history — much different from the days when there were court opinions

holding that women were not suited to go to law school,” the chief justice

observes. “Now we look back and laugh at history. We integrate [such anecdotes]

into our speeches as part of the levity, to have fun.”

Blatz also recalls fielding

gender-related comments when she first joined the Legislature in the late

1970s.

“[When I first entered

Minnesota’s House of Representatives in 1979], I remember comments such

as, ‘How are the women going to vote on this bill?’ As if we were of one

mind,” observes Blatz. “I thought that was a very strange comment, that

we are monolithic in our thoughts because of our gender. I would never think

to go to the House of Representatives with 134 legislators and ask, ‘What

are the men going to do on the next bill?’ They’re going to fight is what

they’re going to do! Some are going to vote this way, some this way,” Blatz

observes.

Blatz emphasizes that

even though she doesn’t hear extreme comments like those she heard earlier

in her career, women still must battle to be proportionately represented

in the legislative sphere. In 1998, just over 26 percent of Minnesota’s

House of Representatives were women — up from just 11 percent 20 years earlier.

While the percentages show an improvement, they also indicate that our lawmaking

bodies are still overwhelmingly male, Blatz observes.

Even though roughly 50

percent of Minnesota’s law students are now women, the MSBA’s Self-Audit

for Gender Equity (SAGE) report found that women make up only 16 percent

of the equity partners in Minnesota’s law firms. The SAGE report found that

while women are hired at about the same rate as men, women are not equally

represented in partner and management positions, and that women are less

likely to move laterally among firms than are their male counterparts.

While more women are

represented in the legal community today, there is still room for improvement

in terms of gender equality, Blatz says.

“During my career, I

have seen growing numbers of women in virtually every area of law,” notes

the chief justice. “From my perspective as a judge, and especially as a

trial judge, more and more women are coming before the court as litigators.”

Nevertheless, Blatz stresses

that the legal community must take the SAGE report seriously.

“Women are a tremendous

asset to law firms and the legal profession, and it should be on the radar

in all hiring decisions to make sure that qualified women and qualified

people of color are hired,” says Blatz. “If we don’t get applicants we can

only do so much. But you have to make sure — and you have to be very honest

with yourself — that you are looking in the right places, and that your

standards reach the end product that you want. The bar and the bench need

to reflect the people. Law firms need to look like clients and like the

public.”

Responding to the SAGE

report’s finding that female attorneys are leaving law firms at a rate almost

twice that of male attorneys, Blatz observes that not much can — or even

should — be done if women are leaving law firms because they are choosing

a different career. But if the reason women are not advancing at the same

rate as their male counterparts is that law firms are not accommodating

demands on their lives, then the issue must be addressed, the chief justice

adds.

Blatz points out that

fostering an accommodating employment environment is not simply a women’s

issue. “I think that [flexibility in the workplace is] an issue for both

[men and women],” Blatz notes. “A lot of men are uncomfortable asserting

themselves in order to have quality time with their children.”

Blatz observes that although

women experience certain pressures because of their gender, men can also

feel pigeonholed because of their gender. “We all suffer from stereotyping,”

Blatz says.

Men are now able to take

paternity leave, but many do not feel that they can compete with other men

and women who do not take time off to be with their families, observes Blatz.

“I think [men] want [to be able to spend more time with their families],

but I don’t know if it’s as acceptable for men to articulate their needs

in the workplace. I don’t think they feel the same level of support that

women feel.”

Blatz believes that flexibility

in the workplace is important for all attorneys — not just women, and not

just married couples with children. All attorneys should strike a balance

between their careers and their personal lives, she adds.

Being a lawyer or a judge

is a wonderful way to marry the love of the law and the love of public service

together, Blatz observes. Even for those in private practice, being an attorney

provides a wonderful opportunity to help address the injustices of life,

she adds.

Blatz emphasizes that

many events that really effected societal change — such as desegregation

and ending slavery — were not settled in a legislative setting, but rather

in a courtroom. Women need to be a part of that, and they are a part of

that today, the chief justice says.

Blatz encourages all

attorneys to be proud that women are a part of something that can change

society.

“It feels good to

see such competent women, along with their colleagues, appear before the

court,” she said.