Katie Sears works as a criminal defense attorney in Iowa but in her spare time she flies to Nevada to work in a brothel. While attorneys going into prostitution have made news before, the narrative is usually an unfortunate tale of women who went into sex work because they needed the money. Thankfully, Sears is available to offer the counter-narrative that gets overshadowed by troubling tales of coercion and human trafficking — a lot of sex workers actually just like their jobs:
“I like sex,” Sears said. “Sex is fun and I can get paid for it.”
Sears, who took on prostitution three years ago, hopes that opening up about her other job can help change people’s attitudes about it:
“You can say, ‘No sex without a condom.’ You can say, ‘No sex until we’re married.’ But you can’t say, ‘No sex until you pay me’? And that feels like it really undermines what consent means,” Sears said.
While Sears said she’s shy, she feels empowered being a sex worker.
“I think the more we talk about it, the better our chances are of getting decriminalization that we’re pursuing,” Sears said. “We’re not going to have legislation change if we’re passive about it.”
Sears, who works with her husband at the firm of Clark & Sears, carries her side hustle into her advocacy, taking on prostitution cases pro bono to help sex workers in trouble, suing brothels that allegedly fail to pay their workers, and advocating for decriminalization to help combat sex trafficking practices that flourish while the industry is kept in the shadows.
And, yes, we did say that she works with her husband whom she met in law school. As for her other job, “I don’t really care that much,” John Sears said.
The question is: which job has the higher billing rate?
Des Moines attorney unveils her life as a prostitute [KCCI]
Earlier: Law Student Turned Prostitute In Legal Battle Over ‘Sex Contract’ With Lawyer
Down Goes Bajaj: Reema Pleads Guilty To Prostitution
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.