Originally published on May 3, 2010 in our free BigLaw newsletter.
One-third of female partners regularly bullied by colleagues? An absence of women in the top money-making ranks at nearly 75% of top firms? Take a moment to consider the significance of these findings, which paint a grim picture of the position currently occupied by women in large law firms. Is it really possible that despite the likes of Hillary Clinton and Sonia Sotomayor, women remain unable to gain a significant foothold in the nation's most lucrative firms? That's what an increasing body of evidence suggests.Unveailed last week at the ABA's Summit for Women In-House Counsel, the "Survey of Women Partners on Law Firm Compensation" paints a disheartening picture of the obstacles faced by women in the legal profession. Of the nearly 700 participating large firm female partners, "fifty-five percent of respondents said they were they were occasionally or frequently denied their 'fair share' of origination credit;" two-thirds "said they were uncomfortable with appealing their compensation decisions, and 30 percent said they were subjected to intimidation, threats and bullying when they did express disagreement," according to the Legal Intelligencer.
Similarly, another report, released in mid-April by the Project for Attorney Retention, shows that fourteen top law firms failed to promote any women to their partnership ranks in 2009. And an October 2009 study by the National Association for Women Lawyers showed that nearly half of major US law firms had no women among their top rainmakers. The same study revealed that another third of top firms had only one top female rainmaker, while 72 per cent of firms said that none of their top five rainmakers were women.
You Can't Bring Home the Bacon and Fry It Up in a Pan
The revelations contained in these studies come as no surprise to many women. For example, says Allison (a senior associate at a large firm in Manhattan), "work-life balance" remains an elusive pursuit for female Biglaw lawyers, and "work" is often the part of the equation that suffers. "I've worked my butt off for my entire career, and now I'm close to partnership" she laments. "But when I went back to the firm after my son was born, I felt like I wasn't doing a good job at anything. I wasn't there for my son the way I wanted to be, and motherhood invariably — and reasonably — encroached on my work life."
The "solution," she thought, was to take advantage of her firm's part-time program, which seemed tailor-made for a new mother. "It was," she declares, "no solution at all. I billed just as many hours, and was just as available to my colleagues and clients, as I had been before. The only difference was that I was paid less." The partners at Allison's firm seemed oblivious to her part-time status, and when, on occasion, she reminded them, "they were generally peevish at the notion that an associate might not be available 24/7." Going part-time, said Allison, felt like a career move that pushed her further away from the goals she had worked so hard to achieve. "During that time," she says, "the last thing on my mind was 'rainmaking.' I don't care what anyone says: you can't do it all."
Is the situation any better for women who are not mothers? "Hardly!" laughs Dana, a mid-level associate at another large firm. "I still have family obligations, even if they don't revolve around a husband or children," she explains. "And I still have personal needs. But if you're not married with children, any time you spend away from the office is viewed with real disdain." Moreover, she says, "do I feel intimidated by male partners who yell and have tantrums? Yes. Do I work with any female partners who act that way? No. Everyone has a story about the bitchy, Devil-Wears-Prada partner who makes other women miserable. But I've found that male colleagues are much more likely to be abrasive and volatile, especially to younger women who work as their subordinates."
Allison and Dana are just two of the many women who find the large law firm environment inhospitable — and their concerns with work-life balance are not the only reasons for their discontent. In addition to juggling full lives along with even fuller workloads, they say that they struggle with male colleagues who do not view them as intellectual peers, subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) sexual harassment, and social opportunities that remain gender segregated. "What inevitably happens," says Dana, "is that my male colleagues are out golfing or going to sporting events with the other 'boys' from the office, and I just can't compete on that level. Those are bonding opportunities that have very real professional consequences."
No Men Allowed?
Why aren't there more firms that are run by women? "Obviously," says Erica (an associate at a top firm in Philadelphia), a firm can't refuse to hire men. But I dream of going to a boutique firm that is managed by women." And, she explains, "it's not all about work-life balance or motherhood, though those are important considerations. It's about the ways in which men and women work differently. Women solve problems differently; they collaborate in different ways. They tend to be a little more supportive and a little less critical in evaluations, and focus more on growth and improvement than on aggressive, bottom-line judgments."
A female partner at a large New York firm who asked not to be named, agreed. "These are, of course, generalizations," she said, "but honestly: I think that women thrive in female-only environments. There is a greater tendency to focus on collaboration, nurturing relationships, and balancing demands holistically. That's not to say that there isn't competition and cattiness, but I've seen all-female teams turn out truly pristine work product without the anxiety and drama produced when male partners work with female associates."
Why hasn't a stronger "female boutique movement" emerged — women abandoning the world of Biglaw to create kinder, gentler (but still formidable) law firms. What do you think? We hope to gather your thoughts, and report on the crowd's wisdom about this complex topic. Contact me and tell me what you think.
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