Overcoming the Main Barriers to the Advancement of Women in Law

According the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), women currently only make up 15% of the partners at law firms across the country. Sandra Roberts has addressed this issue and identified the main barriers women face in the legal field. Check out the following snippet from her opinion piece for The Glass Hammer, or click here for the full text. Of course, instead of trying to conform to the “old boy’s club,” women can always set out on their own…

There are many reasons to account for the rather low numbers of women enjoying high powered careers in traditional professions. One reason is that men still do business with other men. The old “boy’s club” attitude still reigns true, especially in fields such as law. It can be difficult for a woman to interact in an office space where men go out for cigars on a daily basis to discuss business deals, but forget to invite the couple women that may be in an office space. To overcome this sort of barrier, women have to be skilled socially and maneuver around such barriers. Some women have difficulty in maintaining a feminine image and still trying to be part of the “boy’s club” in negotiating business deals and gaining new clients.

Another reason for the lack of promotions that women face in these fields is due to other traditional sorts of attitudes. Men are simply expected to advance in a career, regardless of job performance. If a man stays with a company for so many years, then he will likely be given a job promotion at some point during his time with a company. On the other hand, women are not treated with this same sort of societal perception. Women are expected to get results and prove themselves with each business deal. Only by proving themselves, are women typically promoted in a profession such as law or finance.

Women also continue to face more family responsibilities than men do. Women are expected to balance a career and still take care of children, according to a research study from careerwomen.com. Women also have to take care of ill parents or grandparents, according to this study, more often than men do. Taking care of the home and maintaining a clean environment is still a traditional responsibility that is usually accorded to women. Balancing all of these responsibilities along with a career can often mean that women are exhausted from work and do not perform at work as well as they could.

Another reason few women still face promotions at work is due to a lack of encouragement from educational leaders. In high school and elementary schools, men are typically the ones encouraged to take on leadership roles such as student body leader or president of a certain club. Women are taught from a young age that men should be leaders, which does not encourage them to actively seek out promotions when they get to the workplace. Rather, women simply stay happy with a mainstream position in a company, because that is simply what feels right and comfortable. Women typically don’t even consider the possibility of becoming CEO in a company, which is one of the reasons they do not make it to such a position. In some schools or educational atmospheres, the opinions of men are also more valued by professors and teachers in subtle ways. This sort of subtle favoritism is something that can also greatly impact the psyche of young girls and make them not want to pursue leadership positions in a school atmosphere. This sort of attitude can remain embedded in young girls even after they graduate from college and are looking for their first jobs in a law firm, financial corporation, or company.

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Work-Life Balance in the Legal Profession: A Necessity Even in a Down Economy

Earlier in the week one of my favorite blogs – The Glass Hammer – posted a very interesting article on how so many attorneys have been willing to neglect their personal lives to avoid being let go. However, as the article explains it is important to give yourself some personal time so that you can be both mentally and physically ready for the demands of your job. You can find a snippet of their post below, but be sure to head over to The Glass Hammer for the full text, including a list of the top 10 family friendly law firms in the country.

Over the last year, in large law firms across the country, associates have lived in fear of losing their jobs, accepting and even seeking out longer hours at the office in the hope that if they can accumulate enough billable hours, their jobs will be spared. Unfortunately, such a practice is leading to growing dissatisfaction for all involved. Associates are worn out and resentful of their current predicament. Clients are becoming fed up with large legal bills which reflect the work of several attorneys billing a significant number of hours in order to produce a single piece of work product. Law firm partners are struggling to maintain and bring in business since clients are going in increasing numbers to smaller firms where the same legal work can be done for a lot less.

In this time of high unemployment and economic hardship, should we consider work-life balance a luxury, available only when economic times are good, and just be thankful we have jobs at all?

Although the answer from many quarters seems to be “yes”, others believe that sacrificing work-life balance is not the best strategy to surviving a tough economy. Lisa Gates, life balance coach and author of “Are You Ditching Work-Life Balance Because You’re Afraid of Losing Your Job?” explains that balancing work and personal life in a down economy is important, not just for your well-being outside of work, but to ensure you remain mentally and physically prepared to successfully carry out workplace goals and make sound decisions in your career.

Large law firms can learn from those employers which have already recognized the importance of work-life balance. According to Susan Fenton, author of “Firms Say Work-Life Balance Boosts Productivity”, companies such as Dutch mail company TNT, oil company BP, and US computer maker Sun Microsystems Inc. have found that work life imbalances lead to increased business costs. As a result of these findings, these companies have adopted more flexible working arrangements which they say motivate employees, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency.

American Bar Association offers Woman Lawyers “Blueprint” for Success

From the American Bar Association:

Lawyers, whether law firm practitioners or in-house counsel, are working hard to improve the status of women in the profession. Law students had been an untapped, competitive pressure point to improve the retention and promotion of women in the profession. But, in 2006, that changed when Flex-Time Lawyers LLC co-sponsored a forum with the New York City Bar Committee on Women in the Profession that focused on educating women law students on how to select women-friendly employers and the key ingredients for success. Attendees left the forum with “The Cheat Sheet,” a guide to selecting, creating, and ensuring a women-friendly employer (view “The Cheat Sheet online at www.abanet.org/yld/publications/home.shtml).

When we introduced The Cheat Sheet, we had a number of goals in mind: First, educate women law students on how to avoid the traditional stumbling blocks of their female predecessors before those same patterns repeat themselves. Second, capitalize on the power in numbers as a means to shape how law firms and other legal employers refocus their women-friendly efforts and programs. Third, create a venue for information-sharing by inviting all of the interested parties to the forum and having them in the same room to brainstorm and play a role. Fourth, create an open dialogue and external motivation among legal employers and law schools to compete on these issues to attract, retain, and promote the most talented women students and practitioners. Fifth, initiate a reverberating effect across the country.

The Cheat Sheet provides questions for women law students to consider as indicia of a legal employer’s commitment to the retention and advancement of women. The questions are not meant as a script but as a guide to enable women law students to decipher an employer’s attention to such issues as female representation, partnership and advancement, mentoring, leadership, workplace flexibility, and business development. It also offers suggestions for additional steps women law students could take once an offer is in hand. For legal employers, those same questions have been used as a checklist to determine employers’ strengths and weaknesses to improve the future role of women. Additionally, The Cheat Sheet provides tips for legal employers and law schools and a resources section that lists key Web sites providing information on work/life balance and women’s issues in the law.

National Association of Women Lawyers Published Findings

A few days ago the National Association of Women Lawyers published their third annual National Survey on the Status of Women in Law Firms. You can download a PDF of the study by clicking here, but I have listed out some of their most important findings below.

• 48% of associates, 27% of non-equity partners, and 16% of equity partners, are women
• At 99% of the firms, the highest-paid partner is a man
• Women earn less than their male counterparts at the associate ($7,000), of-counsel ($14,000), nonequity partner ($23,000), and equity partner ($87,000) levels.

These reports have gotten massive attention in the blogging community. The Wall Street Journal’s law blog spoke with Lisa Horowitz, the president of the Association, and she claimed this is because women lawyers are less likely to brag about their accomplishments. “Research has found that women don’t self promote,” stated Horowitz.