Last year, I helped another attorney with a case and attended a client meeting with him. We waited for the client in the conference room with 3 other people. When the client arrived, he apologized from being late in a thick Russian accent and proceeded to shake everyone’s hand . . . except mine. I wasn’t imagining it. He shook hands with the lawyer to my right, skipped me, shook hands with the man to my left, the man next to him, and the man next to him. So I stuck my hand out and introduced myself. You bet that my head was half in the meeting and half mulling over whether this meant that he would dismiss everything I said in that meeting. He was paying me for my advice so ignoring me only hurts him. After the 2 hour-long meeting, I went straight to Google and typed: “women handshake in Russian culture” and found an article in The Moscow Times that said: “In Russia, I have learned not to shake hands with women unless she offers her hand first. … Continue reading →