Cleveland Law Library Weblog

Women Managing Partners Report That Their Gender is a Plus

An article from The Legal Intelligencer posted on law.com indicates that female managing partners find that their gender is a plus in firm management. The article indicates that women are good at multi-tasking; they also find that many of the clients with whom they deal connect them with female counterparts. The article reports the successes of various female managing partners at PA. firms, despite a recent Law360 survey which claimed that female partners are experiencing allegedly significant pay discrimination. 

Law360 Reports That Survey of Women Partners Claims Firm Bias is Holding Down Their Pay

Law360 reports that a recent study of about 700 female partners shows a firm bias against women at major and midsize lawfirms. Instead of familial obligations-which most people have tended to blame for lower salaries among women-this study claims firms do not give women origination credit, do not allow them to work cases they bring in, and keep women out of the client solicitation loop. According to the survey, gender biases in pay and raises can lead to a discrepancy of 22%, or a salary difference of $66,000 between male and female partners. The survey was conducted by the Project for Attorney Retention and the Minority Corporate Counsel Association.

Women Still Under-representated as Law Firm Partners

A brand new study on law.com indicates that women lawyers are still way behind their male counter-parts when it comes to making partner. Although women graduate from law schools as often as men, only 19.2% of partners across the country are women. At the rate women are going, experts claim there will not be an equal number of male and female partners until 2086. The numbers reflect some industry trends that might be changed with more flex-time options and parental leave policies. The article also suggests that the recession has disproportionately hit women lawyers who were working part-time, thus throwing another curve ball at their hope for partner status.