Very Modest Increase in Women Who Hold Equity Partnerships in Law Firms
Still Working on that Glass Ceiling When I made partner in the mid-1990s, only sixteen percent of all partners in the U.S. were women. A NAWL 2014 report shows little progress since then: In its eighth year, the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL®) and The NAWL Foundation’s® annual Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms reveals not much has changed in its findings of compensation, leadership roles, rainmaking, and equity partnership at the nation’s largest 200 firms. The data this year revealed the same trend as in previous years: the greatest percentage of women (64 percent) occupy the lowest positions in firms (staff attorneys) and the highest positions in firms (equity partners) are occupied by the lowest percentage of women (17 percent). In comparison, the 2012 survey reported 15 percent equity partners were women and 70 percent staff attorneys were women. “This year’s results reinforce that women in private practice continue to face barrie...