Most U.S. law firms have a math problem. According to the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), women comprise only 18 percent of law firm equity partnerships, and the typical law firm has only 22 percent women on their highest U.S.-based governance committee. At the same time, according to the American Bar Association, women represent more than 47 percent of J.D.s awarded and roughly the same percentage of associates in law firms.
So, here’s the math problem: if nearly half of the partner candidate pools for law firms are comprised of women, but less than 20 percent of their equity partners are women, are they choosing the best candidates for partner? The answer: statistically, probably not.
— Bryan L. Olson, Chief Human Resources Officer of K&L Gates, commenting on the “law firm math problem” in an op-ed published at Big Law Business. To solve this problem, Olson suggests that male leaders must be made aware of their implicit bias, and then must sponsor women lawyers at their firm in an effort to improve gender equality.
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Staci Zaretsky is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. Follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.