Challenges Faced by Women in Legal Practice
Women in private legal practice encounter obstacles such as fewer promotions to partner roles, gender pay gap, and biases related to motherhood. Solutions include addressing unconscious bias, implementing clear promotion standards, and promoting mentorship. Judicial diversity is crucial for enriched decision-making and public trust. Gender-based harassment ranges from overt behaviors to subtle micro-inequities. Closing the gavel gap in court representation is essential for balanced justice systems.
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Presentation Transcript
Women in Private Practice For several decades, women have made up about half of entering associate classes. However, a much smaller percentage of women are partners. Associates 45-50% Non-Equity Partners 30% Equity Partners 20%
Pay Gap Female Lawyers median weekly pay is 26.5% less than male lawyers
The Motherhood Gap One study found that a mother was 79% less likely to be hired than an otherwise identical candidate without children Another study had consultants evaluate candidate profiles that varied by gender and parenthood and found that mothers were judged to be significantly less competent
Solutions? Avoid Difference Blindness Despite good intentions, ignoring differences among diverse individuals can perpetuate implicit bias. Difference blindness holds all lawyers accountable to purportedly neutral standards, but those standards are based on white, heterosexual males. Mentorship Studies have found that employees with mentors are promoted 5X more and that retention/promotion rates for mentored women increased from 15% to 38% Recognize Unconscious Bias & Educate We all have implicit biases but until we recognize them, they won t go away Implement Clear Standards for Promotions & Compensation
What is Gender-Based Harassment? Obvious Answers: sexually suggestive comments and touching Less Overt Answers: micro-inequity, such as requesting that the only woman in the room take notes or asking women how they balance their work and home life
The Gavel Gap Federal Court State Court Women 34% Women 38% Men 66% Men 62%
The Importance of Judicial Diversity Studies show that judicial diversity: enriches judicial decision-making and creates richer jurisprudence promotes public confidence in the judiciary establishes role models across demographic groups.
Sources & Supplemental Materials Walking Out The Door https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/women/walkout door_online_042320.pdf A Legal Fempire?: Women https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1805&context =faculty Closing the Gap https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/women/closing_ the_gap.authcheckdam.pdf State Supreme Court Diversity https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/state-supreme-court- diversity What Research Shows About the Importance of Supreme Court Diversity https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/what-research-shows- about-importance-supreme-court-diversity in Complex Civil Litigation
Sources & Supplemental Materials Will Working Mothers Take Your Company to Court https://hbr.org/2012/09/will-working-mothers-take-your-company-to- court#:~:text=One%20study%20by%20Shelley%20Correll,hired%20than%20one%20witho ut%20children. 2023 US State Court Women Judges https://www.nawj.org/www.nawj.org/statistics/2023-us-state-court-women- judges American Constitution Society https://www.acslaw.org/judicial-nominations/diversity-of-the-federal-bench/ Huge Pay Gap for Women Lawyers https://news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and-practice/huge-pay-gap-for-women-lawyers- what-firms-can-do
