News & Developments

 

February 9, 2012

Female Attorneys Continue To Comprise Most Part-Time Attorney Positions

According to a recent study [PDF] conducted by the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), more males are entering part-time work; however, female workers continue to comprise the overwhelming majority of part-time attorneys. Indeed, the study found that overall, women represent 70 percent of those employed part-time. The study was based on analysis of information concerning part-time use in 1,269 law offices and firms, and for more than 125,000 attorneys.

Although 98 percent of the law firms reviewed in 2011 allow part-time work, many individuals do not take advantage of the shorter, albeit still long, hours of part-time work. The study found that only 6.2 percent of all attorneys at big law firms work part-time. This percentage is a decrease from a high of 6.4 percent in 2010, but an increase from 2.4 percent in 1994 when NALP began collecting this data.

According to NALP, 13.4 percent of female attorneys work part-time compared to 2.7 percent of male attorneys. While the numbers are not staggering, the study did find an increase in the number of male attorneys employed part-time at the partnership level. Specifically, out of all partners working part-time, 66 percent are female and 34 percent are male. For male partners, this number reflects an increase of 6 percent from 2006.

The NALP study also found differences in the rate of part-time work based on location. For example, the study found that only 2.4 percent of attorneys in Birmingham, Alabama work part-time, and all are female. In contrast, in Washington D.C., 4.4 percent of the partners work part-time and 6.1 percent of associates work part-time.

Overall, the part-time field remains mostly populated by women, but with more male partners going part-time than ever before.

Keywords: woman advocate, litigation, part-time, NALP, career

—Jocelyn Neudauer, Law Student, San Diego, CA

February 8, 2012

Survey Reveals Disparities in the Outlooks of Male Versus Female New Partners

The American Lawyer recently revealed the results of its first-ever survey of new partners. The survey represents responses from 296 partners promoted at Am Law 200 firms between 2008 and 2011, the majority of whom are from firms with 500 or more attorneys. The survey provides insight into how views between new male partners and new female partners diverge on issues such as client development, partnership grooming, money, and the future.

For example, new female partners reported a darker outlook on the partnership experience than did their male counterparts. Of the new female partners, 25 percent rated their partnership experience as being “more difficult than I expected,” compared to 15 percent of the men.

A higher percentage of new female partners see the development of their own book of business as the ticket to security. According to the survey, more than 81 percent of new women partners reported stepping up their business-development efforts, compared to fewer than 75 percent of the new male partners. Despite their early focus on business development, however, only 9 percent of new women partners surveyed reported being “very satisfied” with their business-development responsibilities, compared to more than 30 percent of new male partners. Moreover, 11 percent of the new women partners reported that they were “not at all satisfied” with their business-development responsibilities compared to only 3 percent of the new men partners.

Keywords: woman advocate, litigation, partners, business development, women, men

—Candace Duff, Greenberg Traurig, Miami, FL.

December 16, 2011

NAWL Finds That Fewer Female Lawyers Are Entering Big-Firm Practice

The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) recently released the results of their Survey on the Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, which found, for the first time since the Survey began in 2006, a noted decline in the number of women entering big-firm law practice. Of specific concern to NAWL is that the results may signal a downward trend for women entering the legal profession generally. The survey also examined the changing structure of law firms and its effect on women and determined that the changes—which include multi-tier partnerships (e.g., equity vs. non-equity, rather than just simply a partner/associate division), and the addition of contract, staff attorney, and of counsel positions—more adversely affected women then men. More specifically, the survey found that firms are more likely to employ staff and contract positions that are typically non-partner track positions with women lawyers who have considerable seniority. With regard to of counsel positions, the survey found that women comprise more than one-third of these positions yet only a minority of firms consider them eligible to become partners.

The study further concluded that women are less likely than men to receive credit for business development and other forms of rainmaking, are underrepresented in law-firm leadership, and continue to earn less than their male counterparts.

Notwithstanding these findings, NAWL was somewhat encouraged to learn that large law firms are aware of the issues with the retention and promotion of women and that 95 percent of firms responding to the survey offer women’s initiatives and other programs designed to assist women with career advancement.

Keywords: NAWL, women, lawyers, big firm, non-partner roles

—Angela Turiano, Bressler, Amery & Ross, P.C.

December 15, 2011

Dealing With Jerks

Reminding oneself that what goes around comes around may be the best way of dealing with “jerks” in the legal profession, according to a recent article in the Fall 2011 issue of the ABA Journal. Dealing With Jerks:What Goes Around Comes Around, 37 Am. Bar Ass’n 19 (2011). The article defines the meaning of jerks as those “few attorneys for whom getting under their adversary’s skin seems more important than the result they achieve for their client.” While this personality type is bound to surface in high pressure trial work, the article suggests that jerk attorneys are “not as successful as those attorneys who keep their eye on the prize.” The article proposes that successful trial work comes from “single-minded focus on the end result” and offers some tips for dealing with jerk attorneys.

One tip is to not “respond in kind” or “rise to the bait,” as Gregory R. Hanthorn, cochair for the Ethics and Professionalism Committee, and Anne Marie Seibel, cochair of The Woman Advocate Committee, suggest in the article. Often, bad behavior is done just to get a reaction or impress a client. The article suggests responding by keeping calm, conducting important discussions with difficult personalities one-on-one rather than in front of an audience, and maintaining restraint and professionalism in written correspondence, such as emails.

Additionally, preparing yourself and your client regarding both the case and opposing counsel’s personality is the best way to handle depositions. Finally, the article concludes with the idea that bad behavior will eventually be found out. In the legal world where “every person an attorney encounters is either a potential client or a possible referral,” good character is remembered and rewarded with additional business.

Keywords: adversary, success, bad behavior

—Amber Pershon, Phoenix School of Law, Phoenix, AZ

December 15, 2011

Looking for a Mentor? Just Ask

A recent article in The Glass Hammer showcased the November event: "Professional Development: View from the Top," which was hosted by Step Up Women's Network. At the event, participants were given advice from successful senior women on how to advance their careers by connecting with mentors. According to the speakers, the best way to approach someone you would like to connect with or be mentored by is to simply ask. "Don't be afraid to approach a mentor or someone you want to connect with professionally and just ask," says Pattie Sellers, editor at large and cochair of the Most Powerful Women Summit, FORTUNE. "Walk up to that person and introduce yourself. It could change your life and it could change the older person's life."

The speakers also emphasized that the best approach to getting noticed when asking someone to be your mentor is to be authentic and show your eagerness to learn. According to Sellers, "You need to be normal—don't put on airs." Carolyn Buck-Luce, a global pharmaceutical sector leader for Ernst & Young recalled a woman who approached her for a job and, while the woman had gotten mixed reviews, she was impressed with her authenticity: "She didn't defer to my position. She was incredibly authentic. She was very clear and she knew what she could do."

The Step Up organization is designed to help professionals connect and network but also has a strong mentorship component. One of Step Up's important messages is "not getting caught up in preconceptions" about what young women are supposed to do or how they are supposed to behave, but to encourage young women to follow their passion and achieve their dreams. As part of its mission, the program connects professional women with underserved high-school girls. The girls attend after-school and weekend enrichment programs to help them build confidence and develop college and career skills.

Keywords: women, career, pay, earnings

—Suzanne L. Jones, Hinshaw & Culbertson, Minneapolis, MN

November 18, 2011

Job Hopping May Be Detrimental to Women's Career Advancement

A recent study performed by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding career opportunities for women, found that women who climb the career ladder at a single company tend to have more success and earn more money than women who change employers. Specifically, the study found that women who changed jobs two or more times after completing their MBA degree earned $53,472 less than women who stayed with their first employers. Conversely, according to the study, job hopping appears to benefit men’s career advancement and earnings. The study revealed that, on average, men who changed jobs two or more times after obtaining their MBA degree earned $13,743 more than those men who stayed with their first post-MBA employer. The study concluded that men are paid based on their potential whereas women tend to be paid based upon their proven performance.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule. Some woman have been able to obtain higher pay and more responsibility by taking advantage of new opportunities offered by new employers; however, on the whole, the Catalyst study concluded that staying with the same company may provide women with the ability to build a strong track record and to develop mentors and sponsors who can help steer their careers.

Keywords: women, career, pay, earnings

—Candace Duff, Shareholder, Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Miami, FL

November 17, 2011

The Effect of Gender & Status On Negotiations

A recent Forbes article by Victoria Pynchon discusses the effect of gender on power negotiations. "Women's Negotiation 'Problem' May Be Power, Not Gender," Forbes.com. The article notes that many women believe they must “negotiate nicely” and “be relentlessly pleasant,” or they may suffer a blowback.  However, the article then posits that this negotiation problem is caused by status rather than gender, which in turn is a historic remnant of gender discrimination.

Pynchon discusses The Handbook of Gender Research by Joan Chrisler and Donald McCreary, which states, “If women are, or are perceived to be, in a lower status position, then they are unlikely to assert themselves over an individual with a perceived high status, regardless of that person’s gender.” The author then questions whether the problem is actually one of viewpoint. Pynchon calls for a decision about which gender’s negotiation strategy and tactics are most effective, create the most value, and remain the most durable. She asserts that these are the tactics that should be utilized by both men and women. 

Keywords: women, negotiation, power

—Amber Pershon, Phoenix School of Law, Phoenix, AZ

November 16, 2011

Thirty Years Later, the Glass Ceiling Is Only Cracked

A recent New York Times editorial opines that 30 years after Sandra Day O’Connor heard her first cases on the Supreme Court, the glass ceiling is at best “only cracked.” Currently, the legal profession continues to show resistance to putting women in leadership positions. Not only are there fewer women in general practicing law, despite making up half of new law school graduates for the past 20 years, but the numbers for women on the bench and in equity partner positions in law firms are dismal.

Further, the editorial notes that women with children have the hardest time staying or being hired in the profession. According to a recent Cornell study, the likelihood of a woman with children being hired is 50 percent less than a woman with similar qualifications and no children. The data for women without children is not much brighter, however. Indeed, the editorial notes that according to a landmark report from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Professio,n women’s careers are often shaped by bias.  Women face presumptions of less devotion to their jobs, pay disparity, and continued sex discrimination in the profession. 

Even though there are successful women in the field, that success often requires the ability to give some family responsibilities to a stay-at-home partner or other caretaker. This “traditional model” represents only one-sixth of the work force and is outmoded according to the author. Instead, the author posits that there are ways to retain women in the law. For example, flexible schedules are one option, but men must also choose these options to end their stigma.

 Also, transparent evaluation, assignment, and payment systems are steps toward retaining women in the profession. If the changes are not made, “. . . the profession will continue to lose talented lawyers. It will fail to be a profession that embodies gender equality—what many thought the O’Connor selection promised to bring.” "The Glass Ceiling", The New York Times, October 8, 2011.

Keywords: women, glass ceiling, gender equality

—Susan Hallquist, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN

November 2, 2011

Low-Confidence Behaviors Stunt Women's Careers

According to a 2011 study by Europe's Institute of Leadership and Management, women are less confident than men in their careers. The study found that men were more confident across all age groups, with 70 percent of males having high or very high levels of self-confidence, compared to 50 percent of the women surveyed.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article, Jill Flynn, Kathryn Heath, and Mary Davis Holt discuss four "low-confidence behaviors" cited by both male and female managers as frequently exhibited by women in the workplace.

According to the authors, women should make small adjustments in how they think and act to improve their confidence and progress in their careers.

Keywords: confidence, career, growth, self-confidence

—Suzanne L. Jones, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, Mineapolis, MN

November 1, 2011

The Effect of Makeup on Perceived Competency

Appearance may not be everything, but the way a woman presents herself can affect how she is perceived in the office. A recent study sponsored by Proctor & Gamble and designed and executed by Harvard University Professor Nancy Etcoff, researchers from Boston University, and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute found that women who wore makeup were perceived to be more competent, likeable, and trustworthy than non-makeup-wearing counterparts.

The study took a diverse group of 25 women between the ages of 25 and 50 and took pictures of them in four different looks: no makeup, a natural look, a professional look, and a glamorous look. The pictures were then shown to two separate groups. The first group was shown the pictures for 250 milliseconds so that a snap judgment could be made. The second group was shown the pictures for an unlimited amount of time. According to the study’s findings, women who wore makeup were perceived as more competent than the women without makeup, which even held true for those depicted in the glamorous makeup option. However, according to Professor Etcoff, if a woman always wears a glamorous look, “there may be a lowering of trust, so if you are in a situation where you need to be a trusted source, perhaps you should choose a different look.”  Read the full study.

Keywords: women, beauty, makeup, perception, competency

—Gabrielle Jackson, Wake Forest University School of Law, 2013

October 13, 2011

Is There a Price for Being Nice?

From their earliest toddler interactions, little girls and boys are cajoled to “be nice.” But now, a recent study shows that the paychecks of agreeable men are much less than their disagreeable male counterparts. The pay difference is negligible for agreeable women. The study “Do Nice Guys—and Gals—Really Finish Last?” was conducted by researchers Beth A. Livingston of Cornell University, Timothy A. Judge of University of Notre Dame, and Charlice Hurts of University of Western Ontario.

The researchers found that the “disagreeableness premium” was $9,772 for men, but only about $1,828 for women. The higher premium for men was posited to be due in part to the fact that agreeable men “disconfirm (and disagreeable men confirm) conventional gender roles.” Disagreeableness in women, on the other hand, “is at odds with norms for feminine behavior.” Consequently, “men earn a substantial premium for being disagreeable while the same behavior has little effect on women’s income.”

All of this leads one to wonder what it means to be “disagreeable.” The report explains that “people low in agreeableness are basically amicable” but “are just slightly more likely . . . to behave disagreeably in certain situations by, for instance, aggressively advocating for their position during conflicts.” The researchers note that “[g]iven the positive contributions made by agreeable people, demonstrated in prior research, it seems that the income penalty for agreeableness is out of proportion with its performance effects.” They conclude that their research raises “important questions about the standards according to which people are evaluated” and “serves as a caveat to popular sources of career advice that either exhort people to be nice—or not.”

—Joanne Geha Swanson, Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC, Detroit, MI

September 14, 2011

Women of Color Increasingly Reject Law Firms for In-House Positions

According to a recent study entitled "The Perspectives of Women of Color Attorneys in Corporate Legal Departments" undertaken by the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC), female minorities are increasingly leaving law firms for corporate counsel positions. The study, which surveyed more than 1,300 African American, Hispanic, Asian American and Native American female corporate attorneys, reported a staggering 76.5 percent of surveyed women who left their law firm careers for in-house positions. One of the leading reasons cited for this move was the lack of diverse female partners who were available to serve as mentors.  

According to Veta T. Richardson, the executive director of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, another primary reason that women of color likely prefer the corporate setting is because corporations have valued diversity since the 1980s, whereas law firms did not begin to seriously consider diversity issues until the 1990s. Richardson recommends that to retain more women of color, law firms should provide financial incentives to supervisors who make diversity a priority and should include diversity responsiveness as part of performance reviews. The CCWC study also reports that law firms could retain more women of color by providing them greater access to managing partners and executive teams, opportunities to interact with highly valued clients, and quality assignments to help them build expertise on subject matter and meet billable-hour requirements.

Keywords: diversity, minorities, corporate

—Suzanne L. Jones, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, Mineapolis, MN

September 14, 2011

The Unintended Consequences of Opting Out

In a 2003 New York Times article entitled "The Opt Out Revolution," Lisa Belkin suggested that women were making an empowered choice to "opt out" of their careers. According to Belkin, the reason why women were not rising to leadership positions was perhaps because women simply did not want them.

The backlash to Belkin's article was swift. Subsequent studies revealed that professional women were not opting out, but instead were being pushed out of their careers because their employers did not offer flexible work options. The research showed that women wanted to stay at work, but their employers made work-life balance extraordinarily difficult—if not impossible—forcing women to choose between work and family.

According to a recent study by Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, the "opt-out" myth—or the idea that women choose to leave the workplace—makes it more difficult to recognize gender discrimination. According to the study, women who made a choice to leave their careers were blind to the societal and environmental barriers to their advancement in the workplace. The study concludes that while making a choice between career and family is empowering and personal, it ultimately reinforces the gender barriers faced by professional women.  

Nicole M. Stephens, assistant professor of management and organizations at Kellogg and coauthor of the study, recommends reframing the discussion to reflect that women frequently do not freely choose to leave the workplace, but instead are pushed out by persistent workplace barriers such as limited workplace flexibility, unaffordable childcare, and negative stereotypes about working mothers.

Keywords: work-life balance, working mothers

—Suzanne L. Jones, Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, Mineapolis, MN

September 13, 2011

Judge Believes Individuals, Not Courts, Should Dictate Work-Life Balance

U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska recently dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Bloomberg. Preska did not agree that the media company discriminated against pregnant employees or women who recently returned from maternity leave. She found the expert analysis showed no discrimination in pay or promotions. In addition, she noted that both men and women have complained about work-life balance at Bloomberg.

In her opinion, Preska elaborated on work-life balance. Preska quoted Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, who once said, “There’s no such thing as work-life balance. There are work-life choices, and you make them, and they have consequences.” Preska found that his view “reflects the free-market employment system we embrace in the United States, particularly for competitive, highly paid posts.” Preska also wrote in her opinion that an individual in any family, not the courts, should dictate the level of commitment and, therefore, account for the tradeoffs involved. Read Preska's full ruling.

Keywords: Bloomberg, work-life balance, discrimination

—Esther Hyun, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA

September 8, 2011

Web 2.0 May Play to Female Attorneys' Strengths

According to the July 2011 Business of Law section of the ABA Journal, social media has proven to be a powerful tool for many female attorneys. This tool may be particularly useful to women because it provides an automatic presence online, offers more flexibility in their professional lives, and is a marketing tool that requires no significant investment.

Moreover, use of social media requires skills that many women may excel in, such as communication and relationship building. Social media is a non-confrontational way to create relationships and move away from blatant self-promotion—which many women may still have more reservations about than men—by providing space for women to wholeheartedly promote other women. Social media and women’s work in the legal field are proving compatible and, regardless of gender, it provides ample opportunity for successful, effective communication.

“Women’s Work? Some Find Web 2.0 Plays to Female Attorneys’ Strengths,” ABA Journal (July 2011).

—Susan Hallquist, University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, MN

August 26, 2011

Growing Mentor Association Is a Valuable Resource for Attorney-Mothers

Managing the demands of being an attorney in a big law firm and motherhood can be a daunting task. A 2010 survey by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) finds that women in big law firms are still not on an equivalent economic level as their male counterparts. Big law firm culture often requires long and unpredictable hours, as well as large demands on an attorney’s time and focus. Many women find balancing these demands with those of their family challenging. In an effort to assist attorney mothers, an association called Mother Attorneys Mentoring Association (MAMA), which was highlighted in a recent article in The Philadelphia Inquirer entitled “Making Their Case,” is growing throughout the country.  
           

MAMA seeks to assist attorneys who are mothers by facilitating work-life balance, promoting advancement of mother attorneys, and creating a support group in which members can share their experiences. MAMA attempts to serve attorneys who are mothers through unique solutions. For example, recent topics at meetings for the Philadelphia chapter have included discussions about transitioning into law jobs other than in firms and finding strategies to make partner while maintaining sanity as a mother. The association currently includes chapters in six cities: Austin, San Diego, Honolulu, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and its founding chapter in Seattle. Organizations such as MAMA are one step in cultivating a solution for the demands placed on attorney mothers.

—Amber Pershon, Phoenix School of Law

Keywords: work-life balance, working mothers, NAWL, MAMA

August 17, 2011

A Woman Is Top Earner in General Counsel Compensation Survey

Salary and bonus payments totaling nearly $6.5 million have catapulted a woman into the spot of top-earning general counsel, according to Corporate Counsel’s survey of general counsel compensation. It is the first time a woman has held that position since the survey began in 1994, Corporate Counsel reports. Corporate Counsel—Report of 2011 Survey. Denise Keane, the chief legal officer for Altria Group, rose to the number one cash compensation ranking from 34th place in last year’s survey. A 34-year veteran of the Altria family of companies, Keane received a $5,724,700 non-equity incentive payment in 2010, in addition to a salary of approximately $731,817. Corporate Counsel—Top 100.

According to Corporate Counsel, a 2010 survey conducted by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association shows that women hold the title of general counsel in 94 Fortune 500 companies, or roughly 19 percent. Fourteen women were among the 100 highest paid general counsel and seven were in the top 50, according to Corporate Counsel’s survey. In addition to Keane, they include Carol Petren (Cigna Corporation) in 11th place, Laureen Seeger (McKesson Corporation) in 14th place, E. Julia Lambeth (Reynolds American Inc.) in 26th place, Laura Schumacher (Abbott Laboratories) in 31st place, Kim Rucker (Avon Products, Inc.) in 37th place, and Stacy Fox (Sunoco, Inc.) in 49th place. Other top 100 women include Sandra Leung (Bristol-Myers Squibb Company), Suzanne Bettman (R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company), Candace Cummings (V.F. Corporation), Leila Vespoli (First Energy Corp.), Ellen Fitzsimmons (CSX Corporation), Theresa Lee (Eastman Chemical Company), and Ellen Kaden (Campbell Soup Company).

The 14 women in the top 100 is up from 13 women last year, 10 women in 2005, and 6 women in 2000, Corporate Counsel reports. Corporate Counsel—Movin On Up. Women in the survey received average total cash compensation of about $1.96 million, compared to a $1.84 million average for the survey subjects overall. Bruce Sewell, general counsel for Apple, was the top stock earner, receiving awards worth $28.4 million. According to Corporate Counsel, general counsel compensation reflects individual performance and the overall success of the company.

—Joanne Geha Swanson, Kerr, Russell and Weber, PLC, Detroit, MI

Keywords: women, corporate, general counsel

July 8, 2011

Two Women District Judges Unanimously Appointed To The District of New Jersey

Recently, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the nominations of Magistrate Judge Esther Salas and Magistrate Judge Claire Cecchi as District Judges for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Both Judge Salas and Judge Cecchi have served as United States Magistrate Judges for the District of New Jersey since 2006.

Judge Salas, 42, earned her bachelor’s and law degrees from Rutgers University and then worked for nearly 10 years as a federal public defender. While a magistrate judge, she drafted often-cited opinions regarding discovery disputes. She is known for her commonsense approach to litigation and her tough stance on ethics. Judge Salas is also a married mother of one child.

Judge Cecchi, 46, earned her law degree from Fordham University. Judge Cecchi practiced law in New York and then New Jersey for 17 years. While a magistrate judge, she drafted fair and thorough opinions. She is known for her preparation and detailed analysis. Judge Cecchi is also a married mother of one child.

The new district judges are an asset to the District of New Jersey which is one of the busiest district courts in the nation.

—Sheila Rafferty Wiggins, Duane Morris LLP

June 13, 2011

Promotion of Women to Partnership Stalled in 2011

A report by the Project for Attorney Retention (PAR) found that women lawyers continue to lag behind their male peers in becoming law firm partners. In fact, new male partners outnumbered new female partners by more than two to one in 2011, according to PAR.  Worse, the number of promotions of women has continued to decrease year after year. In 2011, for example, the promotion rate of women at 123 large U.S. law firms surveyed fell 2 percentage points this year, from 34 percent to 32 percent. In fact, a number of law firms did not promote a single woman to partnership in 2011, despite promoting numerous partners. The report did include some good news, however. Of the 123 firms surveyed, 20 had new partner classes that were at least half women—an increase over prior years.  A link to PAR’s press release can be found here.

—Patricia O'Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

June 13, 2011

Growing Trend of Women of Color Leaving Firms to Work as Corporate Counsel

A recent study by Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC) discovered a growing trend of women of color leaving law firms to work as corporate counsel. The study, titled “The Perspectives of Women of Color Attorneys in Corporate Legal Departments,” surveyed more than 800 African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and Native American female corporate attorneys. About 76 percent of the women who participated in the study started their careers in law firms before joining in-house corporate legal departments. The women cited the following reasons for leaving law firms: feeling that their work was not valued, a lack of good mentors, a desire for more challenging work, and few opportunities for growth. The study found that women responding to the survey had doubts whether their prospects and opportunities at law firms would improve, in part because so few women of color were partners who could serve as mentors. A link to an article by CCWC’s founder and CEO, Laurie N. Robinson, discussing the survey results can be found here.

—Patricia C. O'Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

June 9, 2011

The Name Change Dilemma

A recent posting in the Wall Street Journal’s blog, The Juggle, explores women’s decisions with regard to taking their husband’s names after marriage. The May 8, 2011 post, “The Name Change Dilemma,” by Sue Shellenbarger, notes that approximately 18 percent of married women kept their maiden name in the 2000s, a reduction from a peak of approximately 23 percent in the 1990s. A 2009 study published in Social Behavior and Personality found a correlation between occupations and education with the likelihood of a woman keeping her maiden name. Specifically, as noted in the post, “[w]ell-educated women in high-earning occupations are significantly more likely to keep their maiden names.” Another study published in 2010 found that age also affects the likelihood that a woman will keep her maiden name. In fact, the study found that women who married between the ages of 35 to 39 were 6.4 times more likely to keep their names than women who married between the ages of 20 and 24.

The post also examines a recent Dutch study published in Basic and Applied Psychology, which examines how a woman’s decision to keep her maiden name may affect how others perceive her abilities. According to the study’s findings, women introduced with the same last name as their husbands were perceived as more caring, dependent, and emotional, whereas those introduced with a different last name were viewed as smarter and more ambitious.

Read the full post here. Refer to the 2009, 2010 and Dutch studies referenced above here.

—Sara Dionne, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, CA

Keywords: women, name change, maiden name

June 9, 2011

Impressive Number of Women Recently Selected as Law School Deans

In the last few months, women were chosen for approximately 40% of the available law dean positions, according to The National Law Journal.  This figure is remarkable considering that just two years ago an ABA report reflected that 62% of assistant dean positions were held by women compared to only 21% of law dean positions.  The most recent example of this trend is the selection of Darby Dickerson to lead Texas Tech University School of Law.  Dean Dickerson is the current dean at Stetson University School of Law, and her departure creates an opportunity for a woman to lead that law school.  Other women recently appointed as law deans include:

• Margaret Raymond (University of Wisconsin Law School)
• Stacy Leeds (University of Arkansas School of Law)
• Annette Clark (Saint Louis University School of Law)
• Jane Korn (Gonzaga University School of Law)
• Maria Pabon Lopez (Loyola University New Orleans School of Law)
• Deanell Tacha (Pepperdine University School of Law)
• Wendy Perdue (University of Richmond School of Law)

—Sabrina C. Beavens, Iurillo & Associates, P.A., Portsmouth, NH and St. Petersburg, FL

May 27, 2011

Adding Women to a Team Increases Its Intelligence

A recent study by the Harvard Business Review found that a group’s collective intelligence increases when the group includes women. The study gave subjects aged 18 to 60 standard intelligence tests and assigned them randomly to teams. Each team was asked to complete several tasks—including brainstorming, decision making, and visual puzzles—and to solve one complex problem. Teams were given intelligence scores based on their performance. The study found that teams with more women tended to fall above the average while teams with more men tended to fall below it. The study also found that there is little correlation between a group’s collective intelligence and the IQs of its individual members. Thus, although the teams that had members with higher IQs did not earn much higher scores, those that had more women did. The authors of the study attributed the findings to the importance of having individuals with high social sensitivity in a group; many studies have shown that women tend to score higher on tests of social sensitivity than men. The study also concluded that facts such as group satisfaction, group cohesion, and group motivation were not correlated with collective intelligence.

A copy of an interview with the authors of the study can be found here.

—Patricia C. O'Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

May 9, 2011

Alliance for Board Diversity Releases Disappointing Census Results

The impression that women and minorities continue to be substantially underrepresented on corporate boards was confirmed with the release of the 2010 Alliance for Board Diversity Census (ABD). The ABD comprises five organizations—Catalyst, the Executive Leadership Council, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, Leadership for Asian Pacifics, Inc., and the Prout Group, Inc.

Among Fortune 100 companies, the data compiled not only reflects stagnation in some areas, but also reveals decreases in the representation of certain minorities on corporate boards. For example, women gained 16 board seats between 2004 and 2010; however, their increase was only 1.1 percentage points. Further, during the same period, African American men lost 42 board seats while white men gained 32 seats. Overall, the number of boards with 30 percent or less representation of woman and minorities has increased from 59 to 65 among Fortune 100 companies in the past six years.

Unfortunately, the situation is worse when the group is expanded to include boards of Fortune 500 companies. 2010 was the first time Fortune 500 companies were included in the census and the ABD concluded that “Fortune 500 boards are less diverse than Fortune 100 boards.” For example, approximately one-half of Fortune 500 company boards have 20 percent or less representation of women and minorities. In contrast, the census also highlighted companies with 40 percent or more seats held by women and minorities, including top-ranking Avon Products (63.6 percent), Target and PepsiCo (58.3 percent), Aetna (53.8 percent), and Staples (50 percent).

In the letter from the ABD accompanying the census, the ABD predicts that “[u]nless this troubling trend is reversed and U.S. companies begin to reflect their shareholders, markets, and employees, they will fail to reach maximum potential as leaders in the global economy.”

—Sabrina C. Beavens, Iurillo & Associates, P.A., Portsmouth, NH, and St. Petersburg, FL.

Keywords: diversity, minorities, board, corporate

May 9, 2011

New Study Explores Barriers for Corporate Counsel Women of Color

Corporate Counsel Women of Color recently released an interesting study, which found that gender is viewed by in-house attorneys who are women of color as being more of a barrier to advancement than race and/or ethnicity. The findings were based on online survey responses from more than 850 female attorneys of color in legal departments at Fortune 1000 companies, as well as 500 live participants and 40 focus group participants. According to the study, 52 percent of the respondents perceived gender as an obstacle, while only 35 percent of respondents perceived race as an obstacle. Corporate Counsel Women of Color founder and CEO, Laurie Robinson, noted that despite perceived obstacles, survey respondents were not deterred from setting high goals for themselves. Ms. Robinson further described the respondent group as having “a very strong sense of self” and feeling “that they had the power to control their destiny.” The study report is available for purchase through Corporate Counsel Women of Color.

—Sara Dionne, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, CA

Keywords: corporate counsel, gender, race

May 3, 2011

Yale Law Women Survey Names Top 100 Family-Friendly Law Firms

Yale Law Women recently released a survey of the Vault Top 100 Law Firms from the perspective of their work-life balance policies. WilmerHale; Mayer Brown LLP; Arnold & Porter LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; Dorsey & Whitney LLP; Kirkland & Ellis LLP; Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo LLP; Perkin Coie LLP; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP; and Sidley Austin LLP were named among the top 10 family-friend firms for 2011.

In releasing the survey results, Yale Law Women (YLW) stated that “[a]s the legal field heads toward recovery after the recent financial crisis, YLW believes that the focus on family-friendly firm policies and policies designed for the retention of women remains more important and pressing than ever.” In addition to the top 10 firms, Yale Law Women released statistics on work-life balance policies from the survey firms. Thirty-six percent of respondents offered so-called off-ramp/on-ramp programs that allow lawyers to leave the firm and return, compared to just 24 percent of the firms surveyed in 2010. Many firms offer childcare facilities, care services for the elderly, lactation rooms, $5,000 reimbursement for the costs associated with adopting a child, and formal or informal support networks for attorneys trying to balance family responsibilities with their careers. One hundred percent of the responding firms offered part-time options, and 98 percent offered flex-time possibilities. Despite these powerful statistics, YLW remains concerned about the lack of women leaders in firms, with women making up only 18 percent of firm management committees and 27 percent of newly promoted partners in 2010. In addition, YLW discussed the possible negative consequences of adopting a part-time schedule, pointing out that 81 percent of attorney who worked part-time were women and that just 5 percent of the partners promoted in 2010 had ever worked part-time.

—Patricia O’Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

April 27, 2011

Is There A Wage Gap?

The Wall Street Journal recently ran an opinion-editorial piece entitled “There Is No Male-Female Wage Gap.” The piece, authored by Carrie Lukas, executive director of the Independent Women’s Forum, appeared on April 12. April 12 has been deemed “Equal Pay Day” by the National Committee for Pay Equity based on the idea that women must work until April 12 before they earn what men earned in the prior year. In the article, Lukas shares a number of interesting statistics. For example, she cites Department of Labor statistics that indicate full-time working men work on average three-quarters of an hour more per day than working women. She also highlights a 2010 study by Reach Advisors of single, childless, urban workers between the ages of 22 and 30 and found that women in that group earned an average of 8 percent more than men. Relying on this study, Lukas opines that “[r]ecent studies have shown that the wage gap shrinks—or even reverses—when relevant factors are taken into account and comparisons are made between men and women in similar circumstances.”

While the statistics discussed in the article are thought-provoking, they leave many questions unaddressed by the article’s conclusions. For example, while one might expect men’s greater average work hours to result in higher average pay, it is curious why this difference in work hours exists. Is it because of different choices that men and women make? Or is it the result of something else, e.g., the availability of opportunities, mentoring, and new challenges? Likewise, while the Reach Advisors study sounds promising, it also focuses on a narrow segment of the working population, focusing on an age range when workers have recently finished their education and are new to the job market.

In sum, while you may not be convinced by Lukas’s conclusions, her discussion of the wage gap reminds us that these are complicated and difficult issues.

—Sara Dionne, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, CA

Keywords: women, legal profession, law firm, equity, 16 percent

April 18, 2011

"The Mommy Track": More Women are Choosing Both Career and Family

Does the “mommy track” exist, and are women choosing it? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reports that the answer to both questions is yes. Over 20 years after Felice Schwartz’s 1989 Harvard Business Review article, entitled “Management Women and the New Facts of Life,” ignited the “mommy wars,” it appears that women can have it all.

As Schwartz explained in her seminal article, women are not all cut from the same mold. Some women will make “the same trade-offs traditionally made by the men who seek leadership positions.” Most women, however, want families and, once children enter their lives, these talented and creative women “are willing to trade some career growth and compensation for freedom from the constant pressure to work long hours and weekends.”

Schwartz advocated for flexibility in the workplace and encouraged employers to recognize that these women are a “precious resource.” To retain these productive women, Schwartz encouraged employers to offer accommodations, including part-time arrangements, which in most cases meant slower promotions and lower pay. And contrary to the prevailing belief at the time, Schwartz opined that “most career-and-family women are entirely willing to make that trade-off.”

Schwartz’s critics argued that this path would relegate women to “dead-end jobs.” As Schwartz correctly predicted, however, women are able to achieve the once-elusive combination of career and children in greater numbers than ever before. This is due in part to new work patterns and flexibility as well as a shift in women’s attitude. Younger women, in particular, are choosing paths that allow for both career and family without having to make an all-or-nothing choice. Rather than leaving the labor force, highly educated women today are taking less time off and are instead choosing to work part-time. One survey found that 21–27 percent of women who graduated in the 1980s had both a career and family by the time they turned 40, compared with 13–17 percent of women who graduated between 1966 and 1979.

For example, a study of University of Chicago MBAs found that, 10 years after graduation, only half of women with children worked full-time. Many established their own consulting practices that allow for flexible, project-based work. These “MBA mothers seem to actively choose jobs that are family friendly and avoid jobs with long hours and greater career-advancement possibilities.” Having it all may have a price, but it is a price many women are willing to pay, just as Schwartz suggested.

—Grace Wen, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

April 13, 2011

Women Lawyers Have Lower Billing Rates than Male Lawyers

The 2011 Billing Rates & Practices Survey published by ALM Legal Intelligence finds that across the board the average billing rates for women partners and associates are consistently lower than those of their male counterparts. For example, on a national level, the average billing rate for male attorneys is $312 per hour while female attorneys bill an average of $259 per hour. That disparity represents more than a 20 percent gap in billing rates, according to the ALM survey. The survey found that females have consistently lower average billing rates than males across all firm sizes and titles. The practice areas with the highest average hourly billing rates for females were the intellectual property non-litigation ($316), trusts/estates/probate non-litigation ($287), and commercial/contract litigation ($286) practice areas. Solo practitioners were excluded from the survey.

Copies of the report can be purchased here.

—Patricia O’Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

April 11, 2011

President Carter Promotes Legal and Human Rights for Women

Recently, former President Jimmy Carter spoke of his belief that communities around the world should focus on the continued abuse of women and children as a human rights violation. The conference, entitled "Religion, Believe, and Women’s Rights," was sponsored and hosted by the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. During his opening address, President Carter urged governments and religious organizations to come together to note the deprivation of rights to women and girls around the world and to make the correction of those issues a priority. He noted that many prominent religious movements in the world had contributed to unfair legal and social treatment of women based upon certain of their religious teachings.

Panelists during the conference included the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, members of nations from around the world, journalists, and religious scholars. One of the goals of the conference was to discuss how religious and local political leaders can coordinate their efforts and teachings to improve the role of women and limit the influence of discrimination, violence, and oppression on the daily lives of women and girls. Leading up to the conference, scholars and policy makers participated in sessions to discuss the role of women as leaders in politics and religion, including discussions about how religious movements can advocate women’s rights. The conference also addressed how the spreading use of technology worldwide could assist advocates and women to advance the conference’s goals. President Carter specifically noted the improvement of women’s legal rights as one of the most critical human rights issues facing world leaders today.

—Anne Marie Seibel, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, Birmingham, AL

Keywords: women's rights, President Carter, Jimmy Carter, women's abuse

March 29, 2011

Not So Sweet Sixteen

A recent article by Patricia Gillette, an employment partner at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, explores the progress of women as leaders in the legal profession. “Not So Sweet Sixteen,” which appeared in Law 360 on March 10, 2011, notes the significance of the number 16 for women today: Approximately 16 percent of female lawyers are law firm partners, 16 percent of general counsels are women, 16 percent of members of Congress are women, and 16 percent of CEOs are women. Contrasting these figures with the hope and possibility associated with the number 16 in the 1950s and early 1960s, Gillette opines that the 16s of today “demonstrate the bitter truth . . . [that women] are often still treated as less than equals in the workplace.”

Examining the reasons for today’s figures, Gillette opines that the answer is complicated. For some women the answer may lie in their own choices. But, it is clear that gender stereotyping and hidden biases also play a role. Asking what can be done, Gillette declares that it “is time to move past the 16s” and calls for a “conscious commitment to actively groom and recruit women for leadership positions,” and for firms to create a level playing field that includes transparency in identifying and grooming firm leaders, accountability for the development and transitioning of large client relationships, and training to assist partners in recognizing their own biases. Gillette calls upon women to ask for and prepare themselves for positions of leadership and economic power.

—Sara E. Dionne, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, California

Keywords: women, legal profession, law firm, equity, 16 percent

March 15, 2011

Study Links Gender Wage Gap and Birth of Daughters to CEOs

A recent study entitled "Like Daughter, Like Father: How Women's Wages Change When CEOs Have Daughters" and conducted by professors at Columbia University, Aalborg University in Denmark, and the University of Maryland, has found a relationship between the gender wage gap and a company's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) having a daughter. The study examined statistics maintained by the Danish government about Danish companies over a 12-year period. Looking at the time period before and after the birth of a daughter, the researchers found that within a short period after the birth of a daughter to a CEO, the wage gap between male and female employees at that CEO's company was reduced. No similar reduction was found upon the birth of a son. Interestingly, the researchers noted that the effect of the birth of a daughter was related to the birth order of the child. The most significant effect was observed when the daughter was the firstborn child, reducing the wage gap by nearly 3 percent. When the CEO had a daughter who was not his firstborn child, the wage gap reduction was less dramatic, narrowing by only 0.8 percent. Stronger results were observed at companies with less than 50 employees and with employees with more education.

—Sara E. Dionne, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, California

Keywords: gender, pay, wage gap, CEOs, daughter, birth

March 7, 2011

New York Judges Ask Where the Women Litigators Are

At a New York City Bar Association event on Tuesday, March 1, 2011, a panel made up of two New York state judges, two corporate counsel, and a law firm partner debated some of the reasons for the lack of women in commercial cases pending in New York state and federal courts. Justice Angela M. Mazzarelli of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, appellate division, is quoted as saying "Believe me, we notice it," referring to the lack of women at counsel's table. In addition, Justice Rosalyn H. Richter is quoted as having said that while judges typically see a diverse group of attorneys appearing for family law, criminal law, and personal injury cases, the room tends to clear out of women when it comes time to hearing commercial cases.

Justice Richter's chambers compiled information from the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division that backed up the Judges' perceptions. Between September and January, female attorneys led or argued 19.23 percent of the 802 published civil cases in the division and only 13.35 percent of the commercial cases. Overall, 207 attorneys appeared in the 98 published commercial cases, and only 14, or 7.3 percent, were women, according to the data. This figure pales in comparison to the national figures, which indicate that in 2009, 31 percent of attorneys were women. The in-house counsel participating in the panel, including Michele Coleman Mayes, general counsel of Allstate Insurance Co., and Sandra Leung, general counsel at Bristol Meyers Squibb Co., emphasized that outside counsel must understand that staffing matters appropriately means using minority and women attorneys, even if they are on reduced hours.

—Patricia O'Prey, Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP, New York, NY

March 7, 2011

Study Examines the Effect of Gender in Securities Employment Arbitration Cases

A paper entitled "The Effect of Gender on Awards in Employment Arbitration Cases: The Experience in the Securities Industry" was recently presented at the annual meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association. The paper discusses a study in which the authors of the paper examined nearly 3,200 employment arbitrations in the securities industry. The authors reviewed a number of variables in the arbitrations—including the gender of participants—and analyzed whether those variables affected the likelihood of success in arbitration. In conducting their analysis, the authors used four different definitions of a "win" in an arbitration (obtaining any positive award, obtaining an award that was at least 25 percent of the amount claimed, obtaining an award that was at least 50 percent of the amount claimed, and obtaining an award that was at least 75 percent of the amount claimed). Categorizing the gender of arbitration participants based on their first name, the authors considered the gender of the claimants, the claimants' and respondents' attorneys, and the arbitrator under the authors' various definitions of a "win."

According to the study's findings, when a win was defined as obtaining any recovery, male claimants had a 34.4 percent greater likelihood of a win than female claimants. When a win was defined as obtaining an award that was at least 25 or 50 percent of the amount claimed, the authors found that the gender of the claimant had a similar effect. The authors further found that, with regard to both of these categories of wins, however, the gender of the claimant's attorney had a more significant effect on the likelihood of a win than the claimant's gender. Finally, when a win was defined as obtaining an award that was at least 75 percent of the amount claimed, the gender of the claimant was observed to have no significant effect on arbitration awards, but the gender of the claimant's attorney did have a significant effect on the likelihood of a win. In fact, the authors observed that claimants (regardless of gender) represented by male attorneys were over twice as likely to obtain an award of at least 75 percent of what was claimed than those represented by female attorneys. In all of the categories, neither the gender of the respondents' attorney nor the arbitrator had any statistically significant effect on the likelihood of wins.

The complete study is available here.

February 17, 2011

More Law Firms Offering Part-Time Alternatives

A study released by the National Association for Legal Professionals reveals that while more law firms are offering part-time schedules, particularly at the partner level, the number of lawyers taking advantage of the programs is small, especially compared to the general workforce. Furthermore, women lawyers continue to constitute the majority of the lawyers working part-time.

For example, in 1994, 86 percent of law offices participating in the study allowed part-time schedules. By 2010, the number had increased to 98 percent. However, the growth in the percentage of lawyers working part-time has not risen as fast, increasing from 2.4 percent in 1994 to only 6.4 percent in 2010. Moreover, the rate of lawyers working part-time is far less than the general workforce. The study cites Bureau of Labor Statistics data that 14 percent of the general workforce worked part-time in 2009 and a slightly smaller percentage, 13.5 percent, worked part-time in professional specialties. Even more striking is the comparison of women to men that comprises the part-time lawyer category: 70 percent to 30 percent.

The study is replete with additional dissections of the data collected. On the partnership track and considering reducing your hours? Be aware that only 3.6 percent of partners work part-time compared to 5.3 percent of associates. Interestingly, among the part-time partners, the percentage of woman has decreased from 72 percent in 2006 to 64 percent in 2010. Working part-time may also be related to where you live. For partners desiring to work part-time, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sacramento are your choice destinations. Part-time women associates are most common in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and San Diego.

A complete summary of the study is available here.

—Sabrina C. Beavens, Iurillo & Associates, P.A., St. Petersburg, FL and Portsmouth, NH

January 18, 2011

Recent Study Explores Perceptions of Male and Female Attorneys in Negotiations

Being perceived as both competent and likeable is imperative for success. Yet, female professionals often face a double bind whereby the perception of one characteristic comes at the cost of another. A recent paper published in the Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, “Likeability v. Competence: The Impossible Choice Faced by Female Politicians, Attenuated By Lawyers,” however, discusses a study finding that this double bind may not be faced by negotiating attorneys.

The study asked attorneys to describe and evaluate the attorney with whom they had most recently negotiated. The study found that women were perceived to be no more or less effective than male attorneys regardless of their negotiation style. Examining the descriptions used for the subject attorneys, the study concluded that there were few differences in the descriptions used for men and women. Moreover, to the extent there were differences, many ran contrary to gender stereotypes (e.g.,female negotiators were more often described as assertive and firm, whereas male negotiators were more often perceived as creative).

In addition to discussing the study’s findings, the paper also posits several reasons that may explain the lack of gender differences found in the negotiation study and offers several suggestions for how female attorneys can deal with gender stereotypes.

—Sara E. Dionne, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, California

Keywords: negotiations, gender stereotypes

December 13, 2010

New Hampshire Executive Council Approves First Woman Chief Justice

The New Hampshire Executive Council unanimously approved Justice Linda Dalianis to serve as the first woman Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court on December 8, 2010. Justice Dalianis will take over for now retired Chief Justice John T. Broderick, who will join the University of New Hampshire School of Law as its new president and dean on January 28, 2011.

However, this is not the first “first” for Justice Dalianis, a graduate of Northeastern University and Suffolk University School of Law. She was the first woman at her firm in Nashua, New Hampshire, the first woman Superior Court Justice, the first woman Superior Court Chief Justice and, finally, in 2000, became the first woman to join the New Hampshire Supreme Court. 

Justice Dalianis will also take over the Chief Justice’s second responsibility as the administrative head of the entire court system—a daunting task in the current economic times. In past several years, the New Hampshire Judicial Branch has suffered steep budget cuts, resulting in unpaid furlough days for staff and judges, suspension of jury trials, court closings, unfilled staffing and judicial positions, and reduced clerk’s hours, among other cost-saving measures.

It is expected that Justice Dalianis will be sworn in during the week of December 13, 2010.

— Sabrina C. Beavens, Iurillo & Associates, P.A., St. Petersburg, FL and Portsmouth, NH

Keywords: female judiciary, first woman, chief justice, Justice Linda Dalianis

December 7, 2010

The Glass Ceiling Remains Intact

Last month, the National Association of Women Lawyers and The NAWL Foundation (together, NAWL) released their Report of the Fifth Annual National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms. The survey’s findings, though not surprising, are disheartening. In this era of diversity programs and women’s initiatives, women in the legal field are years from reaching parity with their male counterparts. Consider the following statistics:

• The average big law firm executive committee has one, maybe two, female members.
• Women lawyers account for a mere 15 percent of equity partners, “those lawyers who hold an ownership interest in their firms and occupy the most prestigious, powerful and best-paid positions.”
• Nearly half of the firms surveyed (top 200 firms) reported no women among the top 10 rainmakers.
• Female equity partners still earn less than their male counterparts, earning only 85 percent of the compensation earned by their male counterparts.
• Two-tier and “mixed-tier” partnerships adversely impact women, leaving more women in the non-equity, non-owner ranks.

Launched in 2006, the NAWL survey sought “to address the gap in objective statistics regarding the advancement of women lawyers to the highest levels of private practice.” The survey gathers and analyzes objective data from the nation’s top 200 law firms, providing a comparison of the careers and compensation of male and female lawyers at all levels of private practice, including analysis of “the factors that influence career progression.” Some of the key influences noted in the article are:

• Increased use of staff and contract counsel, positions that are disproportionately occupied by women, may foreshadow a “pink ghetto.”
• While some enlightened corporate clients may be keenly motivated to work with firms that support their female partners and may even request that a woman be named the originating or billing partner for an assignment, the firm’s actual compensation structure is rarely transparent to clients. The client may assume and intend that the female partner will benefit financially as the result of being so designated, but the client is unlikely to know whether the female partner is an equity partner versus a fixed-income or non-equity partner. In many instances, compensation-sensitive decisions about who will receive origination credit are controlled by the firm’s male-dominated leadership.
• “[T]he small number of women at the highest levels of firm leadership has broader implications for the advancement of women lawyers.” Because women are not involved in decision-making at high levels, they are unable to influence policies and procedures on career issues that are important to female lawyers. The absence at the executive level of the female perspective on firm direction, elevation of lawyers to equity partner and to leadership roles, and compensation issues has an adverse effect on the women lawyers working their way up through the ranks.
• The lack of women rainmakers is attributed to a number of factors: (a) “women are often excluded from rainmaking opportunities” and the obvious benefits associated with such opportunities; (b) “women frequently do not receive credit from their contributions to firms as institutions and participation as team players for business development;” and (c) “women often bear the brunt of disputes over fee credit[.]”

Since the inaugural survey in 2006, the key statistics and the factors that drive them seem to be evolving at the speed of, well, mud. Initially, it was thought that female lawyers would begin advancing to the highest levels of management once more women were graduating from law school. It was believed that the low number of women in the equity partner and executive committee ranks were driven by demographics; i.e., there were not enough women graduating from law school. Since 2000, however, women have comprised at least 50 percent of law school classes, yet the numbers remain unchanged.

The persistent absence of women in positions of leadership—from corporate boardrooms to law firm executive committees—suggests that the pace of progress remains painstakingly slow. The tiny glimmer of light seems to be that the conversation continues. Kudos to the NAWL and the survey’s authors for their hard work and candid analysis of these challenging issues.

— Amy Elizabeth Stewart, Amy Stewart PC, Dallas, TX

Keywords: retention, NAWL, glass ceiling

December 1, 2010

North Carolina May Be First With Majority Female Appellate Bench

While it may not have been the year of the woman anywhere else, it was decidedly so in North Carolina's judicial elections. With the election of Barbara Jackson to the state's Supreme Court, North Carolina will become just the fourth state to have a Supreme Court with a majority of female justices, joining Tennessee, Michigan, and Wisconsin. North Carolina's Supreme Court is also led by Chief Justice Sarah Parker, the third woman to hold that position in North Carolina's history.

Jackson's rise to the Supreme Court leaves an open seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court which, before her departure, also boasted a majority of female justices. Jackson's replacement will be appointed by Governor Beverly Purdue. If a woman is appointed, North Carolina will be distinguished as the first state to have both its intermediate and highest appellate courts with a majority of seats held by female justices.

Much attention has been given to the presence of three women on the United States Supreme Court and whether such gender diversity will be apparent in the Court's decisions. Some poll watchers attributed the gains in North Carolina to the opposite, suggesting that the increase in women's representation on the bench comes from the public's sense that female justices decide cases pretty much the way men do. Jackson pointed to North Carolina's tradition of electing its appellate bench as a factor in the increasing presence of women on the bench, claiming that popular election for judges encourage more diversity.

"We've done well," said Court of Appeals Judge Linda McGee.

— Melissa English, The Van Winkle Law Firm, Asheville, NC

Keywords: North Carolina, female judges, judiciary

November 18, 2010

Podcast Explores the Effects of Reduced-Hours Workloads

Navigating the difficult balance between career and personal life is a challenge faced generally by legal professionals. A recent ABA podcast entitled "Do Reduced-Hour Workloads Derail Partnership-Track Careers?" offers some interesting perspectives on different attempts to achieve that balance. For example, the panel includes Stephanie Kimbro, a North Carolina practitioner who, while pregnant with her first child, left her law firm to practice as a solo practitioner. Kimbro’s experience is unique in that she teamed with her computer programmer husband to offer her clients a virtual law office, allowing her to expand her client base beyond her immediate geographic location. The panel also includes Will Meyerhofer, a New York psychotherapist who works with attorneys struggling in the profession; Professor Jacquelyn Slotkin of Case Western School or Law; and Professor Joan C. Williams of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.

Work-life balance is often characterized as a women’s issue or, more specifically, a mother’s issue. One important reminder discussed in the podcast is that the issue is not one confined only to mothers of young children. More and more legal professionals are exploring how to develop a practice that fits with their desired lifestyle. For example, Kimbro reports receiving contacts from a variety of practitioners, ranging from mothers to baby boomers with aging parents, seeking her advice on putting together their own virtual law firms.

Another key issue raised in the podcast is how wealth and status affect a legal professional’s ability to achieve a satisfying work-life balance. Meyerhofer discusses how many attorneys he sees in his practice live under the weight of enormous law school loans. According to Meyerhofer, this debt significantly limits the options available to many of his clients who find themselves dissatisfied with their legal practice but may be prevented from making a change due to the severe financial pressures they face.

At its core, work-life balance is about giving professionals options in their career. The podcast offers the listener different perspectives on options available to practitioners, as well as potential roadblocks to those options.

— Sara Dionne, Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Sacramento, CA

Keywords: Reduced-hour workloads, partnership track, virtual law office, work-life balance

November 11, 2010

Women Lawyers of Utah Release Study on Practicing in the State

The Women Lawyers of Utah recently released the results of a study that set out to answer two questions:

1. Do Utah law firms face greater challenges retaining and promoting female attorneys than male attorneys?
2. If so, what concrete, unbiased actions can law firms and Utah attorneys take to meet these challenges?

 

The survey was given to attorneys admitted to the Utah Bar between 1985 and 2005. The responses paint an unfavorable picture of practicing in the state. Attorneys reported that a “startling amount of sexual harassment and sex discrimination occurs in Utah law firms.” Also, gender bias and a sense of unequal treatment were reported. The Executive Summary noted that law firms should care about these trends because of the bottom line and, more importantly, clients may desire diversity among their attorneys.

The Executive Summary also offered several best practices to address these problems, such as sexual harassment training, management addressing gender bias, encouraging partners to go to lunch with female attorneys, and providing incentives for mentoring. Although the study focused specifically on Utah, the issues raised by the participants are certainly not unique to Utah. Firms developing programs and guidelines to improve retention and promotion of women attorneys may find the Executive Summary an informative resource.

— Sabrina C. Beavens, Iurillo & Associates, P.A., Portsmouth, NH

October 28, 2010

A Challenge to Notions That Women Can't Achieve at the Highest Levels and Maintain a Family

A recent book, The Last Male Bastion, by University of Pittsburgh law professor Douglas Branson provides a timely rebuttal to articles that have reported that many high-achieving women do not have any children. The Last Male Bastion notes that of the 12 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, 11 are mothers. Of course, the success of these women doesn't undercut the advantages that male parents experience in advancing their careers as compared to their female peers. A U.S. Government Accountability Office report on the gender gap released on September 28 found that men with children are more likely to rise into management than women with children in most major industries. The study concludes that the wage gap between working mothers and working fathers has not improved since 2000 when it was determined that working women were paid 79 cents for every dollar that their male counterparts were paid. For more information, see a copy of the U.S. GAO's report as well as an interesting article discussing these issues and involving interviews with female CEOs.

— Patricia C. O'Prey, New York, NY

October 20, 2010

A "First" Term for the United States Supreme Court

 

Despite hundreds of previous terms, the United States Supreme Court’s October 2010 term is a first. It is the first in which there are more than two female justices. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan now make up one-third of the bench.

Sandra Day O’Connor joined the bench in 1981 as the first female justice. Several years passed before Ginsberg became a Supreme Court Justice in 1993. O’Connor retired in 2006, leaving Ginsberg as the only female once again. Just four years later, however, three female justices are decision-makers in America’s highest court. In 2009, Sotomayor joined the Supreme Court, and Kagan quickly followed this year.

There is much discussion and debate about the effects these three women will have in the aggregate. Yet, any definitive conclusions may be tempered this year. Kagan already recused herself from numerous cases due to her prior position as U.S. Solicitor General. For several cases, therefore, only two females will weigh in on opinions.

Still, curiosity looms about what the future holds. Discussions focus on how the group will impact case outcomes, specific areas of the law, women in the legal profession, and the general image of leadership perceived by today’s youth. Others consider potential impacts of three female justices compared to one or two, and whether the women justices’ dispositions are representative of women in general. Contrastingly, while some assume that gender will play at least some role in this new era, others may also question whether gender, as opposed to other factors, will be what shapes future Court dynamics.

Ultimately, whether three is a magic number that alters the Court’s direction in one or more of these ways remains to be seen. Suffice it to say at this point that for many years to come, eyes and ears will be on the three justices who make this term a "first."

— Maureen A. Redeker, Manhattan, Kansas

October 5, 2010

Putting Work-Life Balance in Perspective

 

To comply with a Pentagon policy barring women from joining combat branches, a special unit of female Marines was sent to Afghanistan to "accompany" infantry on their patrols. A legal review of compliance with the Pentagon policy recently refined the letter of what these brave women could do and under what circumstances. Read more about this special mission to reach out to women in Afghanistan and the challenges facing female soldiers in combat in The New York Times article linked below. The circumstances these brave women face gives concerns about work life balance a whole new meaning.

— Anne Marie Seibel, Bradley Arent Boult & Cummings LLP, Birmingham, AL

September 24, 2010

The Number Of Federal Civil Trials Are At a Historic Low

 

A recent blog from The Wall Street Journal states federal judges are presiding over far fewer civil trials than at any time in history. According to the blog, the National Law Journal chronicles the percentage of federal civil cases that went to trial have dropped over the years from 11.5 percent in 1962 to 6.1 percent in 1982 to 1.2 percent in 2009. Judge Brock Hornby attributes this decline to "outside forces" and gives a list of nine reasons to back this up. To name a few: lawyers have learned to measure which cases will be profitable; more lawyers and law firms use alternative dispute resolution and more contracts contain clauses requiring it; electronic discovery has significantly jacked the cost of litigation; and news and entertainment portray juries as irrational, unpredictable, and out of control.

 

Four Law Firms Make Working Mother's Top 100 List.

 

Four law firms are once again on Working Mother magazine's list of the 100 best companies for work-life balance. Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C., was "best in class" for parental leave. Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., offers nearby day care and health advocates to help employees make the most of their health insurance benefits. Katten Muchin Rosenman in Chicago, IL, offers paid month-long leaves of absence to associates with five years of tenure. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York, NY, gives new parents six weeks of paid leave and allows lawyers to phase back in to full-time practice at the end of their leave.

 

Study Finds That Gender Rather than Lower Productivity Explains Lower Pay for Female Partners

 

A new study by Temple University law professor Marina Angel and University of Texas-Pan American professor Eun-Young Whang finds that women partners are no less productive than their male counterparts when it comes to generating revenue per lawyer; however, women partners are paid less than their male counterparts.

 

Salary Gaps May Be Due to Biased Compensation Practices

 

The salary gap where female partners earn on average 22 percent less than their male counterparts may be a result of fundamental biases in law firms' compensation practices rather than women's parenting or other familial duties, according to a report released on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, by the Project for Attorney Retention and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association. Only one-third of income and minority partners, and less than half of equity partners, reported being satisfied with their compensation, as compared with a 75 percent satisfaction rate reported by male partners. In addition, approximately one-third of respondents said they had been bullied, threatened, or intimidated out of origination credit—a key component in setting compensation at many law firms.

 

Women in the South Are Represented in the State Judiciary

 

This interesting article discusses how women in the judiciary in Southern states attained those positions through hard work, and, often by being more attractive to the electorate in states in which the judiciary are elected to the bench. The article also discusses how women bring a diversity of experience to the bench that is different from their male colleagues, which can be critical to understanding cases before them. 

 

Female In-House Counsel Can Promote Change

 

Women have been represented in more than 50 percent of graduating classes from law schools for years now, yet the percentage of women attaining law firm partnership has not grown proportionately. A recent study by Veta Richardson and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association along with the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession and the Project for Attorney Retention at the University of California Hastings College of the Law indicates that, even after achieving partnership, women may face difficulties in maintaining their equity partner status and in fighting for compensation on par with their male counterparts.

 

Women Lawyers to Follow on Twitter

 

You would have to be living under a rock to not know that the use of social networking websites as a marketing tool exploded in 2009, and based on the recent ABA Techshow, it is expected to continue to be an important tool to gaining and retaining clients. Although various social networking mediums such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook provide excellent potential for rainmaking and networking, Twitter is particularly unique in that it provides the ability to communicate easily and cross paths with people you otherwise may never have met. Twitter, however, can be slightly overwhelming, especially for new users. To help you get started, below is a list of women on Twitter who tweet about legal issues—some serious and some just plain entertaining, but all worth following.

• @lawyersandblogs
• @LawyerGina
• @LeoraMaccabee
• @FeministLawPrfs
• @allisonshields
• @CoffeeNerdedLaw
• @amystewartlaw
• @actlaw
• @Lipstick_Lawyer
• @LegalTweets
• @CounterfeitChic
• @taxgirl
• @legallyfab1
• @stephaniethum
• @HaleyOdum
• @downtownlaywer
• @nikiblack

I hope you enjoy following these twittering women as much as I do. Remember, the Twitter universe is enormous, ever-changing, and seemingly infinite in its number of users and possibilities. I’m sure I haven’t been lucky enough to find all of the great women tweeters out there.

NALP Request Dismissed

Law firms have dismissed a request made by the National Association for Law Placement for details about equity versus nonequity partners in their ranks, which is raising ire among women lawyers.

Saudi Arabia Could Soon Allow Women Lawyers to Appear in Court

Saudi Arabia could soon allow women lawyers to appear in court, though apparently only representing other women, the country's justice minister said in comments published on Sunday.

Women in British Law Firms

Women make up less than 20 percent of total partners in Britain’s 30 biggest law firms, a study by Legal Week, a trade publication, will show. Among the magic circle firms—Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Linklaters, and Slaughter and May—the average is only 15 percent.

Women and the Law Texas Symposium

A Great Read: Women and the Law in the Winter 2009 issue of The Advocate from the Litigation Section of the Texas state bar. Topics include women's progress in the law and the challenges that remain, role models, business development, and work-life balance as well as practice guides on gender discrimination, jury psychology, and divorce.

A Lack of Diversity on Court of Appeals

Minnesota's Diana Murphy is the only woman ever to have served on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Eleven judges sit on this St. Louis, Mo.-based court. Nine of these judges were appointed after Murphy, and all of them are men. Read more.

Hamas Courts Tell Women Lawyers to Cover Their Hair

A Hamas-appointed chief justice in the Gaza Strip has ordered female lawyers to wear a head scarf in court, drawing criticism from human rights groups in the territory controlled by the Islamist group.  Read more.

Study Reveals that Female Lawyers with Masculine Names May Have a Better Shot at Judgeships

Women lawyers with masculine-sounding first names have better odds of becoming a judge than their counterparts with feminine names, at least in South Carolina, according to a study by two economics researchers.

Too Many Women Lawyers are Like Oz’s Dorothy, Partner Says

"Too many women lawyers are like Dorothy, asking for no credit, reward or recognition," Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe employment law partner Patricia Gillette writes, “And thus, no one knows what she has done and no one thinks of her as a leader.”

The Waves Minority Judges Always Make

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court and currently the only female justice, said that she and Justice O’Connor, who preceded her, brought a distinct perspective to the court. But Justice Ginsburg said her own influence in all sorts of cases at the justices’ conferences was uncertain: 'it isn’t until somebody else says it that everyone will focus on the point,' Ginsburg said.

Female Lawyers Stuck in the Middle

Read about findings from the Minority Law Journal’s survey of Am Law 200 and NLJ 250 firms about their minority head counts.

New Study: Female Lawyers Leave Firms Primarily to Seek Flexible Situations

Women lawyers in New Jersey are more likely to quit if their law firm does not have flexible work arrangements, and they are gravitating toward firms that do, says a new survey of women lawyers across New Jersey.

At 14 Law Firms, Partner Promotions in 2008 Didn’t Include Women

Fourteen out of 100 law firms surveyed didn’t include a single woman in their partner promotions last year, but for some the results were an aberration.

Obama signs 'Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act'

The law reverses a Supreme Court ruling that declared plaintiffs had to file wage claims within 180 days of a company's decision to pay a worker less than a counterpart doing the same work. To read more about President Obama's moving statement before he signed the act into law, click below.

Senate Nears Passage of Wage Discrimination Bill

The bill would reverse a 2007 Supreme Court holding and make clear that every one of a plaintiff’s paychecks that results from wage discrimination constitutes a new legal violation, thereby extending the 180-day limitations period.

Survey: Most Attorneys Working Part-Time Are Women

A survey by the National Association for Law Placement reveals that, although 98 percent of law offices allow attorneys to work part-time, very few lawyers do. Of that few, women are the vast majority.

Women Partners Weigh in on Chief Justice Controversy

The cause of New York’s controversy: the total absence of women from the list of candidates from whom Governor David Paterson must choose the state’s next chief judge.

Michelle Obama’s ‘Mommy’ Stamp

A recent Washington Post article reveals that no one is immune from the work-life-balance struggle, especially not soon-to-be First Lady Michelle Obama.

Female Partners Climb at 11 Firms

The Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women reported a 25-percent success rate in response to its "Call to Action" program directed toward increasing firm’s female partnership ranks. In 2005, the Alliance for Women challenged Chicago law firms to increase their number of female partners by at least three percentage points. Eleven of the 44 firms who accepted the challenge achieved that goal. While some female lawyers have criticized the Alliance’s reported results because they include women who have achieved the title of "partner" but do not have equity in their firms, others applaud the program for highlighting for firms issues of gender parity.

The Top 10 Family Friendly Firms

Yale Law Women releases their list of the Top Ten Family Friendly Firms for 2008.

The 50 Best Law Firms for Women in 2008

Working Mother has compiled their 2008 List of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women.

Being a Lawyer and Male Makes You a Top Earner, Census Report Shows

Salaries for women lawyers continue to lag behind salaries for their male counterparts, according to a recent Census Bureau report.

Allegheny County Bar Association Launches Gender Equality Initiative

The Pittsburgh Business Times reports that the Allegheny County, PA Bar Association announced the founding of its Institute for Gender Equality and has issued best practices recommendations toward leveling the pay gap and other equality issues among men and women lawyers in the Pittsburgh area.

Parenting: Mom? Lawyer? The Ambivalence Track

NOV 4, 2007—Women who have taken time off from work to become a parent are weighing their approaches as they plan to resume their careers.

Fewer Women Are Seeking Law Degrees

OCT 2, 2007—Since 2002, the percentage of women in law schools has declined each year, according to the America Bar Association. Cathy Fleming, a partner at Nixon Peabody and past president of the National Association for Women Lawyers, says a perception among young women that they have a wider array of career opportunities is one reason, but a change in work ethic is also at play. And law firms, with their reputation for punishing work hours, may have a tougher sell to college graduates. (From the National Law Journal)

Maternity Leave in the United States

SEPT 5, 2007—Paid parental leave is still not standard, even among the best U.S. employers. Institute for Women’s Policy Research analysis reveals minimal coverage for working parents.

Becoming a Rainmaker

AUG 14, 2007—Christine Cartwright Baker, a partner at the law firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath based in Princeton, N.J., tells about the best practices of personal marketing for women attorneys, covering a range of issues from asking for referrals to getting the word out about accomplishments.

Top law firms are taking steps to counter ‘female brain drain’

AUG 24, 2007—“Top firms have taken notice of the female brain drain. And they are not alone; large corporations and other professional service firms have also noticed the disproportionate loss of female professionals and the high cost it exacts. They are losing talent as well as their investment in recruiting and training these women.”

Working Mother Lists Top 50 Law Firms

AUG 14, 2007—A new player has just entered the law-firm rankings game. Working Mother magazine, in an issue that arrived on newsstands today, has listed 50 law firms that it considers particularly attuned to the concerns of its readers.