Document Not Available

Interview with Lainie Wade

IntervieweeInterview with Lainie Wade American

InterviewerInterviewed by James A. Wade American, 1937 - 2023

Date2016 October 26

DimensionsDuration: 8 Minutes, 35 Seconds

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of the Connecticut Bar Foundation

DescriptionOral history interview with Lainie Wade who was interviewed by Jim Wade on October 26, 2016 for the Connecticut Bar Foundation's History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project.

Topics Discussed:

- Family Background : Lainie's father was a mechanical engineer and president of Dane Zerman Company in Philadelphia, and her mother was a librarian for the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia. Both attended Cornell.

- Early Life: Lainie was born in Cohasset, Massachusetts, and grew up in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.

- Undergraduate Education : Lainie attended Cornell, graduating in 1960 with a major in Government.

- Decision to Pursue Law School: Her decision to go to law school was made during her senior year at Cornell, prompted by her father's suggestion to take the LSATs, which she passed.

- Law School Experience at the University of Virginia: She started law school at the University of Virginia in 1960-1961, where her class of 250 students included only two women and two Black individuals. Lainie chose Virginia after being denied admission to the University of Pennsylvania. She was shocked by the prevalent segregation in Charlottesville, which had separate facilities for Black and white people in public places. There was only one shared women's bathroom in the law school, used by both students and secretaries. No female professors taught substantive law courses; Fanny Farmer, a lawyer, served as the librarian. Lainie Wade was the only woman on the Law Review's academic side during her time there.

- Bar Examinations and Initial Professional Challenges: Lainie Wade graduated in 1963 and passed the Virginia Bar Exam in Lynchburg, Virginia, after a two-week cram course. After marrying Jim Wade in 1963, she moved to San Diego for approximately four years due to his Navy service. During this period, she found it impossible to secure legal employment in San Diego or Philadelphia because law firms generally "didn't hire women". Her only job offer was as a law librarian at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.

- Admission to the Connecticut Bar and Early Career in Connecticut: In 1966, Lainie Wade and her husband moved to Simsbury, Connecticut. She prepared for the Connecticut Bar exam by taking a cram course in Hartford, which occurred during the riots of 1968, the year Martin Luther King was killed.

- Career at Travelers Insurance Company: Lainie Wade worked for Travelers Insurance Company for over 25 years. She was the first female officer at Travelers, and the Law Department grew significantly during her tenure. Her legal work primarily involved corporate and securities law, including private placements, bankruptcies, public offerings, and venture capital, focusing on the investment side of the insurance business. A notable achievement was leading the "Travelers Mortgage Securities Corporation" deal, which involved securitizing mortgages.

Object number2024.38.38a-b

NotesProject Overview: At the turn of the 20th century, other than Mary Hall, women lawyers were virtually unknown in Connecticut. By contrast, at the turn of the 21st century, law schools were enrolling roughly the same number of women as men. Since their earliest time at the bar, women have become leaders in all areas of the profession at a pace out of all proportion to their brief history and number.

In 1999, the Fellows of the Connecticut Bar Foundation initiated the Oral History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project. Within the framework of this dynamic project, the Fellows have been creating a permanent video, audio, and photographic historical record of milestone achievements of women as they have become more visible and achieved prominence in the field of law. In 2019, a leadership donation of $20,000 from the law firm of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey enabled the project to significantly broaden its scope and plan for the future.

Through its first two phases, the project worked with award-winning documentarian Karyl Evans and attorney/photographer Isabel Chenoweth to produce fifty-eight oral history interviews with outstanding female attorneys and 118 portraits of women in the Connecticut judiciary.

The oral history interviews have collected the stories of women whose ingenuity, perseverance, and intelligence dismantled barriers that historically prevented women from pursuing careers in the law. Connecticut has benefited from the efforts of these “pioneers” as they enriched the legal profession by joining the ranks of their male peers and paved the way for more women to join the profession. (Source: Connecticut Bar Foundation)