The American Lawyer covered Carrie Cohen and Kate Driscoll's discussion during a virtual fireside chat presented by the New York State Bar Association about how gender may influence the Elizabeth Holmes trial and what they expect to see in the remainder of the trial.
Kate said that the trial itself has highlighted some "staggering" statistics about the dearth of women leaders in Silicon Valley, noting that only about 12% of those companies have a woman CEO and only about 2% of venture funds in the U.S. go to companies headed by women.
"Certainly, [Holmes] has been a beacon for many women in Silicon Valley as a promise of success and what that looks like as a woman," Kate said.
Carrie added that she wasn't sure if Holmes' gender had anything to do with the volume of media coverage of the case, pointing to the "firestorm of facts," including the list of big names Holmes recruited to her company's board and the allegations that she lied to investors and patients about the company's ability to conduct lots of medical tests with a small amount of blood.
"I do think it's sort of the facts of this particular case are just so interesting that I expect it would have gotten a lot of media coverage if it would have been a man," Carrie said.
Read the full article (subscription may be required).
Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
© Morrison & Foerster LLP. All rights reserved
