Walking Out the Door

June 30, 2023 2:18 PM

While entering associate classes have been comprised of approximately 45% women for several decades, in the typical large firm, women constitute only 30% of non-equity partners and 20% of equity partners ... [and] the number of lawyers named as new equity partners at big firms has declined by nearly 30% over the past several years ... The critical question, of course, is why? What is it about the experiences of women in BigLaw that result in such different outcomes for women than men, and why do even senior women lawyers have so many more obstacles to overcome? These core questions drove this first-of-its-kind study ... through the perspective of more than 1,200 big firm lawyers who have been in practice for at least 15 years.

(direct link to the report [pdf])

"The American Lawyer has predicted that there will not be gender parity in terms of equity partners until 2181."

posted by jedicus (15 comments total)

So much effort, devoted to showing that if you put boys in charge of figuring out who's good enough to be in the club, you get rules that make it really hard to be in the club if you're not a boy.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 2:38 PM on June 30, 2023 [17 favorites]

Being a Biglaw associate and being an acceptable level of parent are incompatible. For some reason, women care more about this, but it applies to men, too. I recognize that economic pressures drive parents to do things that impair their parenting, and I want to be super-clear that I would lose my damn mind as a stay-at-home parent, but...yeah. It's barely compatible with having a dog.
posted by praemunire at 2:59 PM on June 30, 2023 [34 favorites]

Is there a long, obscure, and difficult latin term that means misogyny?
posted by evilDoug at 3:04 PM on June 30, 2023 [20 favorites]

Huh the neat thing about this study is that I think I've read literally the exact same study for tech and why women don't make it past middle management in big tech firms.
posted by potrzebie at 3:14 PM on June 30, 2023 [16 favorites]

I'd like to think that at least some part of this is more women than men coming in with a different long term plan than making biglaw partner (not necessarily kids, just less stress and more flexibility with boutique pay), and are doing better at leveraging biglaw into other opportunities earlier; but that could only explain a small part of the discrepancy.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:47 PM on June 30, 2023

What does the 'EMPHASIS ON MARKETING OR ORIGINATING BUSINESS' line item that the partners were clueless about get at? Too much rainmaking expected? Or not enough participation in it?
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:56 PM on June 30, 2023

You need it to rain? I vote Yaeji for chief lawyer.
posted by kaibutsu at 4:15 PM on June 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

Of course, it doesn't help that there's basically no right age to be a woman in leadership (HBR, limited free views, archive link here ).
posted by rpfields at 5:34 PM on June 30, 2023 [6 favorites]

So I set up my own practice - I know how to market and originate business just fine.

Especially if I am targeting family-owned businesses - in-house child care, family friendly hours, water bottles and fruit cups in the fridge, a homework room with a printer and reference material where teenagers can work while their parents are going through the details.

Which worked really well for me as a parent.

And some of my clients are in fact Big Law partners or ex-partners. Turns out that my business model has made me far better off financially. Oh, and my children still come in to the office to print off their cv's or job applications.
posted by Barbara Spitzer at 6:31 PM on June 30, 2023 [12 favorites]

This is a huge issue in Canada too. My graduating class at law school was over 50% women... over ten years ago. It was nowhere near the first class to be majority women.

The entrenched ignorance and bigotry in the profession is shocking to some, and it's pernicious in every province my friends and I have worked in (8 and 1 territory), and I've seen it in both the rural and urban regions I've worked in. I've got oodles of privilege, and I don't think I've gone a year in the profession without being called at least one racist, homophobic, ableist, and/or sexist slur to my face by a lawyer or law clerk.

This isn't even a case of "oh, they'll adopt progressive policies when they realize it's more lucrative", as the old guys running the firms will destroy their business, career, income, and reputation rather than recognize the humanity of others. It happens most years here, and we only have a little over a hundred lawyers in the local bar!

Marginalized lawyers disproportionately have to start their own firms so that they can have a humane work environment. Any mefites who are looking to do the same, feel free to drop me a line - I recently launched my own firm and sill have a bunch resources & research stashed away.
posted by LegallyBread at 6:59 PM on June 30, 2023 [23 favorites]

This is solidarity: knowing that tens of thousands of commadres are rolling their eyes today.
posted by amtho at 9:40 PM on June 30, 2023

So soon on gender parity? I don't think it will ever happen.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:47 AM on July 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

I don't think I've gone a year in the profession without being called at least one racist, homophobic, ableist, and/or sexist slur to my face by a lawyer or law clerk

I work in circles that are too "sophisticated" to do this out loud, but I have to spend a nontrivial amount of time and emotional energy calibrating my response to disrespectful conduct by opposing counsel that would not be directed at a male version of me. It's such a fucking waste. My work is all adversarial, so I tell women juniors, "Your job is to make opposing counsel think you're a bitch without actually being a bitch," but what a stupid needle to have to thread.
posted by praemunire at 10:02 AM on July 1, 2023 [6 favorites]

I'm a third generation lawyer on my Mom's side. (Second on my Dad's.) I'm also, realistically, an eccentric in premature solo practice for reasons in the realm of Aging Men Running Their Firms Into the Ground. I don't think I have any special insights about running a small office, except maybe on the IT side. As I did that before I was licensed, growing up etc. But if I can be of any help to anyone, drop me a line.
posted by snuffleupagus at 10:39 AM on July 1, 2023

I’ve never had anyone say anything to my face and I’m appalled, but not surprised that’s happening.
However the condescension, being mistaken for support staff, being called young lady by judges and more senior attorneys (when I’m past 40) and being very obviously denied opportunities because of the boys club is exhausting enough.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 10:55 AM on July 1, 2023 [4 favorites]