Gender Equity in the Legal Profession

Gender Equity in the Legal Profession

St. Louis Association of Corporate Counsel Golf/Spa CLESeptember 19, 2014

Presented by Lucy T. Unger

The Pay GapIn 1963, on average, women earned $0.59 for every $1 that men in comparable positions earned

In 2014 –now that the Equal Pay Act & Civil Rights Act have been in place for 50+ years, on average, women earn $0.77 for every $1 that men earn

So it has taken more than 50 years to lessen the gender pay gap by 18 cents.

$- $600.00

$1,200.00

Median Weekly Earnings

Women’s presence in the Legal ProfessionSalary/Pay Equity Information

Women Lawyer’s Median Weekly Salary as a percentage of Men’s 73%

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Men 1710 1748 1891 1783 1875 1934 1895 1884

Women 1255 1354 1333 1381 1509 1449 1461 1631

$250.00

$750.00

$1,250.00

$1,750.00

$2,250.00

Weekly Salary Men vs. Women Lawyers

Women lawyers’ weekly salary as a percentage of male lawyers’ salary:

73.4% 77.5% 70.5% 77.5% 80.5% 74.9% 77.1% 86.6%

Women Equity Partners CompensationAt the median, women equity partners in the 200 largest firms earn 89% of the compensation earned by their male peers.

Women’s Representation Declines at Higher Levels

While the representation of women declines at the higher levels, the Best Law Firms employ more female Equity Partners (18%) than the national average (15%).

Equity Partners

Non-Equity Partners

Counsel

Associates

18%

28%

42%

47%

82%

72%

58%

53%

Women Men

% women in law schools

% women that pass bar exams

% women that pass specialty bar exams

% of women actively practicing after 10 years of

being a licensed lawyer

% women who are partners or Associate

General Counsel

% of women who are appointed to Executive level

positions

% of women who are managing

partners or Chief Legal

Officers/General Counsel

Men 67%

Women 33%

Women in the Legal Profession

Partners-1 Equity Part-ners-2

200 Largest Law Firm Managing Partners-3

Associates-4 Summer Asso-ciates-5

Women 0.199 0.15 0.04 0.45 0.463

2.50%

12.50%

22.50%

32.50%

42.50%

Women in Private Practice

Men78.4%

Women21.6%

Fortune 500 General Counsel

Women in Corporations

Caucasian African American Hispanic Asian American/Pacific Islander

Middle Eastern

83.3% 10.2% 3.7% 1.9% 1%

Women15.6%

Men84.4%

Fortune 501-1000 General Counsel

Caucasian African American Hispanic Asian American/ Pacific Islander

Middle Eastern

92.3% 3.8% 2.6% 1.3% 0%

Partnership Structure’s Impact on Women

Among the Best Law Firms, women Lawyers represent 21% of Equity Partners versus 17% at two-tier firms.

Two-Tier Firms

One-Tier Firms

17%

21%

83%

79%

Representation of Equity Partners at One-Tier versus Two-Tier Best Law Firms

Female Equity Partners Male Equity Partners

The national trend is analogous, where women represented 21% of Equity Partners in one-tier firms and 15% of Equity Partners in two-tier firms.

Representation of Women on Influential Committees

At the Best Law Firms, women hold 21% of Executive, 21% of Compensation, and 22% of Equity Partner Promotion Committee seats.

The representation of women on the Executive and Compensation Committees increased over last year, when women held 19% of Executive and 18% of Compensation Committee seats.

Equity Partner Promotion Committee

Compensation/Finance Committee

Executive/Management Committee

22%

21%

21%

78%

79%

79%

Women Men

Representation of Women as Firm Leaders: 2007 v. 2012

Ten Best Law Firms (20%) are led by female managing partners, while six (12%) have female chairpersons.

2007

2012

16%

20%

2007

2012

2%

12%

Firms with Female Managing Partners

Firms with Female Charipersons

No Women One Woman Two Women Three Women

31% 31% 27%

11%

Top Ten Rainmakers

We asked the Best Law Firms how many of their top ten rainmakers are women. At the 36 firms that answered the question, here’s how women are faring in business development:

Leadership Training, Networking & Mentoring: 2007 and 2012

Significantly more Best Law Firms now support women through leadership training, networking and mentoring than did in the first year of our initiative.

‘07 ‘12

88%

100%

‘07 ‘12

60%

96%

‘07 ‘12

48%

96%

‘07 ‘12

66%

82%

2007 Best Law Firms

2012 Best Law Firms

Firm holds networking events with the female Lawyers of the firm and the firm’s female clients

Firm offers management or leadership training for Lawyers

Firm offers mentoring circles for women to provide support and guidance

Firm offers mentoring targeted for senior women Associates or new women Partners to facilitate advancement or help with transition

Access to Flexible Work Arrangements Varies

All 2012 Best Law Firms offer Flex-Time and Reduced Hours. The Best Law Firms are less generous in offering Annualized Hours and Job Sharing.

Percentage of Best Law Firms that offer flexible work arrangements

100%

Flex Time

100%

Reduced Hours

56%

Annualized Hours

12%

Job Sharing

Usage Rates for Flexible Work Arrangements Remain Low

The Best Law Firms have more Lawyers working Reduced Hours (9%) than the national average (6%).

Percentage of Lawyers Using Flexible Work Arrangements at Best Law Firms

17%

Flex-Time

9%

Reduced Hours

8%

Annualized Hours Job Sharing

50%

Associates

44%

Counsel

43%

Non-Equity Partners

23%

Equity Partners

Female Usage Rates for Flex-Time

The breakdown of Associates using Flex-Time splits evenly between men and women. More than 40% of Counsel and Non-Equity Partners who use Flex-Time are women.

Percentage of Lawyers Using Flex-Time at Best Law Firms Who Are Women

Promotion Rates for Reduced Hour Lawyers

All 50 Best Law Firms (100%) offer Reduced Hours

47 of the 50 Best Law Firms (94%) allow Reduced Hour Lawyers to be eligible for Equity Partnership.

Last year, of the 10 Lawyers, on average, who were promoted to Non-Equity partner at the Best Law Firms, an average of 1 Lawyer was working a Reduced-Hour schedule at the time of the promotion.

Last year, of the 7 Lawyers, on average, who were promoted to Equity Partner at the Best Law Firms, an average of 1 Lawyer was working a Reduced-Hour schedule at the time of promotion.

Firms offer generous access to parental leave, but Lawyers don’t take full advantage of it

Number of Paid Weeks Offered

Average Number of Paid Weeks Taken

15

11

6

2 3

11

Weeks of Fully Paid Maternity Leave

Weeks of Paid Paternity Leave

Weeks of Paid Adoption Leave

76%

Backup Child Care at Facility 66%

Subsidized In-Home Backup Child Care

20%

On-Site/Near-Site Child Care Center

16%

Business Travel Child Care Reim-bursement

Child Care OfferingsSubsidized in-home backup child care has grown in popularity: 66% of Best Law Firms offer it in 2012, up from 62% in 2011.

Percentage of Best Law Firms that offer child chare

Good Ol’ Boy Network

The #1 thing identified by women as missing in their workplace-good

mentors in high positions

This is followed closely by a lack of women’s leadership initiatives

&Perceived roadblocks to advancement beyond middle management

Of course, the Good Ol’ Boy Network also includes vague-and sometimes not so vague- put-downs of women…

In an interview with WIRED earlier this summer, Smith explained that one reason so few young women pursue careers in tech is that they lack visible role models. “There are 2 to 3 million

women programmers in the world. We need to see them more,” she said.

“Nobody’s encouraging you. Nobody’s showing you the value of why you’re

doing this and why it’s so impactful on the world,” Smith said at the time. “We

want to show you that you have incredible heroes who already so this

work.”

“Someone needs to tell women that sundresses are not proper in the

courtroom,” she said, adding: “But it can be a delicate issue.”

You do the math

82% of women in the USA become mothers

Yet working mothers are 79% less likely to get

hired and 50% less likely to be promoted

compared to men at their level

The #2 thing identified by women as a gender

issue in their workplace-explicit bias

against working mothers (as opposed to working fathers).

Lack of family supports (e.g. flex time, part time, reduced time,

child care subsidies, non-

penalized personal days).

Lack of good

mentors

The Maternal Wall

The Accumulation of Disadvantage


• Under-developed negotiating skills– Few women negotiate their starting salary or raises in salary/bonuses– Over time, that leads to larger and larger discrepancies in

compensation

• Inverse relationship between level of compensation and level of involvement in activities that contribute to the long-term benefits for a law firm – Community service– Bar involvement– Associate & Paralegal Development– Firm morale


• Ramp down & ramp up costs related to child-bearing/time away from work

• Assumption that a married woman’s compensation is only “supplemental” income of that of her husband whereas a man’s compensation is the main support of the family/household


• Women are not groomed to become tomorrow’s leaders

• Left out of successorship plans• Not given full credit (or any credit) for new client

origination or expanding current client work• Paternalism/lower expectation

• Smaller Companies/Firms have the worst track records-the paradox of “the meritocracy”

Same Facts/Different Evaluation

•Men are judged on their potential

•Women are judged on their achievements

Pattern 1

•What’s important for a given job?

•Whatever the male candidate has (“the full package”).

Pattern 2

•Men’s successes are attributed to skill while women’s are overlooked or attributed to luck.

•With mistakes, just the opposite is true.

Pattern 3

•Objective requirements are applied strictly to women but leniently to men.

Pattern 4

•Women are “gossiping” or “in a cat fight.”

•Men are “talking about business.”

Pattern 5

Monday, Apr. 11, 1994

"Excuse me! Just let me finish if I may." -- JUSTICE SANDRA DAY O'CONNOR WHEN INTERRUPTED BY JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG DURING ORAL ARGUMENTS LAST TUESDAY; ON WEDNESDAY, GINSBURG WAS REBUKED AGAIN FOR INTERRUPTING BY JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY

“Shut Up, Ruth”

Same Facts/Different Evaluation

• These patterns lead to performances being evaluated differently such that women find themselves in a constant state of proving their value over and over and over again and still not getting recognized equally when they do prove it.

Penalties For Stepping Outside Stereotype

• Dress violations-violating the “feminine mandate”

• Self-promotion (“get ahead” agency)

• Confrontation/criticism

Penalties For Stepping Outside Stereotype

• Intimidating levels of excellence (get it done agency)

• Refusing to do “office housework” or allow others to interrupt you or take the credit for your idea

• The Tomboy

Implicit BiasUnconscious attitudes towards people based upon perceived social categorizations

We have an image of a successful professional as being both male & masculine

Masculine TraitsAggressive

Ambitious

Competitive

Forceful

Independent

Risk-taking

Feminine TraitsAffectionate

Cheerful

Compassionate

Gentle

Why

Understanding

Implicit Bias

Women describe being in a double-bind, or “walking a tightrope” as they try not to be too feminine or too masculine. If they are too feminine, they are discounted as lacking power, ambition, and vision (e.g., Elle Woods in “Legally Blonde”). If they are too masculine, they can be discounted as lacking emotional intelligence (e.g. Grace Hart in “Miss Congeniality”).

“Good Girl” Roles

These very qualities that tend to pay off in low-level positions back-fire in the quest to obtain and retain high level positions

The Workhorse: She works harder

than anyone, never gripes about it being unfair, and

hopes to get rewarded or recognized eventually.

The Service Partner: She helps out whenever she

is needed and never asks for any

credit.

The Good Girl: She does what she is told and never

complains.

The Flirt: She uses her sexuality to get

what she wants.

The Tug-of-WarWorkplace fights between women play a much larger role in stalling their advancement than the same kinds of fights between men.

Gender bias against women fuels the tug-of-war among women as they seek to:

Be the one “cool girl” in a

group of powerful men;

Be the one women on the

committee

Commiserate with anti-mommy

comments

Eschew “women’s”

groups;

Make it harder-instead of

easier- for the next woman to

climb the ladder

Women of Color

•Lack of visible mentors is especially pronounced -Leads to feelings of bleak isolation

•Bias begins at a much younger age than for White women•Event lower expectations than the already low expectations for women lawyers•Stereotype threat•The “Maternal Wall” looks different

-75% are the sole or chief income in their households;-4 times as likely to be single

•Greater leniency, however, to exhibit some behaviors-Righteous indignation, but not too much anger-Push energy (to get a team to get the job done)

High PerformersTry to effect change• Insist on being heard- “Erin Brokovich”• Initiatives- “Nine to Five” workplace innovation

• Salary transparency instead of salary secrecy• Money matters-intolerance of the 77% solution

-The brag sheet– “The Devil Wears Prada”-Team building

If they are unsuccessful, they vote with their feet

THANK YOU

Lucy T. UngerGender Equity in the Legal Profession

St. Louis Association of Corporate Counsel Golf/Spa CLESeptember 19, 2014

Documents

Gender Equity in the Legal Profession