Biglaw, Women's Issues

Why Are Women Leaving The Legal Profession In Droves?

In addition to leaving law firms during their child-rearing years, women are now leaving in their 40s and 50s.

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You’ve already had your children, you’ve come back from maternity leave, and at that point, you have all this experience and expertise, why would you leave then?

We’re not suggesting everybody needs to work till 65 or 70 in law. But if women are leaving because they’re just tired of having fought for all these years and still not being treated how they perceive to be fairly and equally with men, that’s a problem we need to address.

— American Bar Association president Hilarie Bass, who also serves as co-president of Greenberg Traurig, commenting on the fact that according to recent studies, women have been leaving their law firms in their 40s and 50s, leaving the profession without some of its most experienced attorneys. Per the ABA, women over 50 now make up only 27 percent of lawyers at firms. The ABA’s Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in Law initiative seeks to find an answer to the question of why these women are leaving, and hopes to provide specific recommendations to end the problem.

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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