My primary mentor during my law career died earlier this
month. William F. Tueting was the first person to hire me as a lawyer, and he advised
and guided me through my early years in that position. I hadn’t seen him or
even communicated with him since he retired and moved to Utah to be closer to
one of his children, but I will never forget him.
I worked at the Chicago Board of Trade as a paralegal/secretary
while attending law school at night, and I was still working there when I
graduated and received my law license. I ran the arbitration program and had
other significant responsibilities, but I was not offered a position as an attorney
position.
Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. The Board of Trade was
a boys club at the time, and only one woman had broken the barrier. There were two
other women employed in positions that sounded important, but one had no
influence and the other didn’t interact with the membership. And there had
never been a female attorney on the staff.
I had worked for the then-current general counsel for several
years, and I believe he recognized that I was qualified to be an attorney there.
I don’t know if he suggested hiring me and was rebuffed or if he didn’t have
the courage to even try. In any event, no job was offered, and Bernie himself soon
moved on to private practice.
When Bernie left, the legal staff was overhalled. The Board
of Trade hired a new general counsel, and Bill Tueting came on board as Associate
General Counsel.
The new general counsel assigned me to provide legal advice
to the investigative staff and gave me legal responsibilities similar to those of
a new lawyer. However, he did not give me either the salary or the title.
Instead, he characterized it as an experiment to see how well I handled the job,
justifying his decision by saying he had never worked with me before and wasn’t
familiar with my skills. That was true, but I’m guessing that he wasn’t willing
to stand up to the powers that be, either.
Jeff also moved me to a desk in the department I was advising.
Although I went to Legal Department staff meetings, I didn’t feel like a full
member of my own department. But I still had a job, and I wasn’t going to leave
it without something better to go to.
Fortunately for me, Jeff didn’t last long and Bill Tueting was
promoted to General Counsel. One of Bill’s first moves was to change my title to
Attorney and give me a salary to match, making me the first woman lawyer at the
Chicago Board of Trade. He also gave me an office in the Legal Department.
Bill told me at the time that “I have always thought of you
as an attorney.” I took his statement to mean that he had respected me in that
role from the first day we worked together. I continued to experience that respect
throughout my legal career, even after I left the Board of Trade.
I could go to Bill with any questions and concerns, and he
always listened and provided sound advice. And when I was asked by an influential
staff member in another department to render a legal opinion that was contrary
to law, I knew Bill would back me up when I refused.
I had three mentors during my legal career, but Bill was the main
one. I will be forever grateful for what he did for me.
Mentors are important in any field, and I hope I’ve filled
that role in both my legal and writing careers.
That’s the least I can do to thank Bill.
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