Quick Takes

Published: September 2009

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Education

• In the 2007-2008 class, women made up 46.7% of law school students.¹
• 1993 was the year of the highest percent of women as J.D. students-50.4%.¹
• In the 2007-2008 class, people of color made up 21.6% of law school students.²

 The Gender Gap in Law

• In 2008, women made up 34.4% of all lawyers.³ Women were 45.3% of associates in 2008.⁴
• Catalyst estimates women will not achieve parity with men in law firm partnerships until 2086.⁵

• In a survey of the 50 best law firms for women,
  
  • 14% of the firms had women managing partners,⁷
  • 20% of the equity partners were women,7
  • 28% of the nonequity partners were women,7 and
  • 40% of the of-counsels were women.7

• According to a 2008 survey of the nation’s 200 largest law firms, women represent 34% of of-counsel, 27% of non-equity partners, and almost 16% of equity partners.⁸

• There is a drastic difference between women at the lowest and highest levels in law firms. According to a recent survey,
  • women make up nearly 1 out of every 2 law firm associates, but only 1 out of every 6 equity partners.⁸
  • 99% of law firms reported that their highest paid lawyer was a man.⁸
• A 2007 survey of the 50 best law firms for women found clients asked 23% of the best firms for firms’ statistics on diversity when making decisions about choosing a law firm for representation.⁹
• A 2008 survey of the 50 best law firms for women examined occupations by the percent of mothers and fathers in each position.⁷

Occupation	Mothers7	Fathers7
Associates	23%	29%
Of Counsel	56%	57%
Non-EquityPartners	67%	80%
Equity Partners	71%	85%

• While 1 in 8 women lawyers work part-time, only 1 in 50 men lawyers do.¹⁰
• Nearly half as many men lawyers as women lawyers (44% vs. 84%) have a spouse that is employed full-time.¹¹
• Women were general counsels at 82 Fortune 500 companies in 2008.⁵
• Women lawyers made 80.5% of men lawyers’ salaries in 2008.¹²

Women of Color in Law

• Women of color face additional barriers. As mentioned earlier, women were 45.3% of all associates and 18.7% of all partners. People of color were 19.1% of all associates, and 6.1% of all partners. Women of color, on the other hand, represented just 10.7% of all associates, and 1.9% of all partners.⁴
• 19% of law firms do not have any associates who are people of color.¹⁵
• 75% of women of color entry-level associates and 74% of men of color entry-level associates leave within 5 years.¹⁶
• There are only 7 women of color general counsels in the Fortune 500.¹⁷

 

Sources

¹ American Bar Association, "First Year and Total J.D. Enrollment by Gender 1947-2005" (2008).

² American Bar Association, "First Year and Total J.D. Minority Enrollment for 1971-2007" (2008).

³ Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 11: Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation, Sex, Race, and Hispanic or Latino Ethnicity," Annual Averages 2008 (2009).

⁴ The National Association for Law Placement, "Law Firm Diversity Demographics Slow to Change -- Minority Women Remain Particularly Scarce in Law Firm Partnership Ranks," (October 10, 2008).

⁵ Catalyst, unpublished data, 2008.

⁶ NALP data, various years.

⁷ Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers, "2008 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women: Trends Identified from National Survey."

⁸ National Association of Women Lawyers, "Report of the Third Annual National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms," (November 2008).

⁹ Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers, "2009 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women" (2009).

¹⁰ National Association of Women Lawyers, "National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms" (November 2007).

¹¹ Catalyst, Women in Law: Making the Case (2001). 

¹² Current Population Survey, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 39: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex," Annual Averages 2008 (2009).

¹³ American Bar Association,"A Current Glance at Women in the Law 2005."

¹⁴ American Bar Association, "A Current Glance at Women in the Law 2006."

¹⁵ NALP, "A Closer Look at Women and Minorities in Law Firms" (2008).

¹⁶ NALP, "Update on Associate Attrition: Findings from a National Study of Law Firm Associate Hiring and Departures-Calendar Year 2007" (2008).

¹⁷  Minority Corporate Counsel Association, "Minority General Counsel at Fortune 500 Companies" (2007).

¹⁸ Minority Corporate Counsel Association, "MCAA 2008 Survey of Fortune 500 Women General Counsel" (2008).

UPDATED September 22, 2009