ARMY JAG, 2005-2017 — Leaving JAG for private practice and the credibility tax

Twelve years as a JAG officer. Trial counsel, defense counsel, operational law, two deployments providing legal support to ground commanders. Got out as a major to do family law in a small firm in Texas. First three months in private practice were a credibility tax I had not been prepared for. Clients did not know what JAG meant. Opposing counsel — civilians who had never been near a military court — treated my trial experience as if it did not count. One deposition I sat through had opposing counsel ask me on the record whether I had ever 'really' practiced law. I had tried eighteen felony cases as defense counsel by that point. The tax is doubled for women in this profession and I am not going to pretend otherwise. The civilian bar makes a thousand small assumptions about military service that get distributed differently depending on who is wearing the suit. I learned to stop explaining. I learned to file motions that won my cases on the record and to let the docket speak for itself. Four years in I made partner. The same opposing counsel from the deposition has now retained my firm twice for matters outside her competence. She has never apologized. I have not asked her to. I have stopped needing her to.