In our third issue of Women to Watch, we spotlight Lauren Holloway – a litigation attorney in MGC’s Memphis office.
As we continue to share the personal stories and professional journeys of women attorneys at MGC, you’ll find a common theme: they equally bear an understanding of the challenges and issues faced by women in the legal industry today, while providing exclusive insight derived from their diverse backgrounds and expertise. Their words are a significant contribution to this discussion, and will continue to aid our ongoing initiatives — Belong @ MGC and WIN @ MGC. In particular, “[I see the women’s initiative providing] better opportunities for women of all backgrounds,” says Lauren Holloway, MGC litigation attorney, committee member of Belong @ MGC and the spotlight of this week’s Women to Watch.
"[I admire] Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second female justice of the United States Supreme Court,” says Lauren. “She is a trailblazer and advocate for the advancement of women’s equality.” Lauren is a humble advocate herself. “After 32 years of being in the legal profession, I have seen slow growth for women as trial lawyers and in upper level management in firms and corporations,” she says.
Lauren’s perception of this bias and discrimination is, unfortunately, today’s norm. “The overall arc of the storyline for large law firm diversity remains the same — it is one of slow, incremental gains for women and people of color in both the associate and partnership ranks, but at a rate so slow as to almost seem imperceptible at times,” says James Leipold, Executive Director of the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). According to NALP’s 2019 Report on Diversity in US Law Firms, “Women of color continue to be the most dramatically underrepresented group at the partnership level.”
After studying criminology at Arkansas State University, where she was a scholarship volleyball athlete, Lauren earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Memphis as an avenue to join the FBI. Over three decades later, she’s known in the legal field to offer a high level of technical excellence and prompt delivery of results. Lauren also had a strong group of mentors along her career path. “[I would share] the same message I received from Chief Bankruptcy Judge David Kennedy,” she says. “You are in the service industry. Return your calls/emails timely, which may seem like a small matter but will become increasingly difficult to do. Learn each day and continue to build your craft. Seek out a sponsor/mentor in your area of expertise for growth, development and as a sounding board.”