Biglaw

The Female Equity Partner Scorecard: How Do Elite Biglaw Firms Stack Up For Women? (2020)

Which firms are doing the best, and which firms are doing the worst?

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Earlier this month, thanks to the recently released Am Law A-List ranking, we found out which U.S.-centric Biglaw firms were the best in America in terms of both finances and culture. As a companion piece to the Am Law A-List, today we’ve got the A-List Female Equity Partner Scorecard, a ranking of the percentage of female equity partners in the Am Law 200.

For this ranking, only equity partners were counted. Because women are often left to languish in the nonequity partner ranks, the Female Equity Scorecard really allows us to see which firms are doing right by the women who work there — and, on the flip side, which firms are being celebrated for doing what looks like the bare minimum.

Without further ado, here are the top 20 to satiate your rankings cravings (with the firms’ total percentage of female equity partners noted parenthetically):

1. Fragomen (48.7 percent)
2. Hanson Bridgett (38.8 percent)
3. Marshall Dennehey (32.5 percent)
4. Littler Mendelson (30.6 percent)
5. Jackson Lewis (30.2 percent)
6. Brownstein Hyatt (29.0 percent)
7. Ropes & Gray (28.8. percent)
8. Davis Wright Tremaine (27.6 percent)
9. Morgan Lewis (27.5 percent)
10. Holland & Hart (26.8 percent)
10. Morris Manning (26.8 percent)
10. Porter Wright (26.8 percent)
13. Ballard Spahr (26.6 percent)
14. Manatt (26.3 percent)
14. Sherman & Howard (26.3 percent)
16. Kutak Rock (26.1 percent)
17. Morrison & Foerster (26.0 percent)
17. Munger Tolles (26.0 percent)
19. Covington (25.8 percent)
19. Greenspoon Marder (25.8 percent)

You may be wondering where the rest of the namebrand Biglaw firms appear on this list. We’ve taken the top 20 of the Am Law 100 and listed where they fall on the Female Equity Scorecard so you can see how they really stack up for women.

1. Kirkland / 112. 18.0 percent
2. Latham / 138. 16.1 percent
3. DLA Piper / 158. 14.5 percent
4. Baker McKenzie / 94. 18.9 percent
5. Skadden / 51. 22.3 percent
6. Sidley / provided no data on female equity partners
7. Morgan Lewis / 9. 27.5 percent
8. Hogan Lovells / 53. 22.0 percent
9. White & Case / 140. 16.0 percent
10. Jones Day / 21. 25.4 percent
11. Gibson Dunn / 100. 18.6 percent
12. Norton Rose / 40. 23.3 percent
13. Ropes & Gray / 7. 28.8. percent
14. Greenberg Traurig / 154. 14.8 percent
15. Simpson Thacher / 61. 21.3 percent
16. Weil / 77. 20.2 percent
17. Mayer Brown / 149. 15.2 percent
18. Sullivan & Cromwell / 97. 18.8 percent
19. Davis Polk / 103. 18.4 percent
20. Paul Weiss / 34. 23.8 percent

As you can see, just a handful of the top firms are anywhere near respectable in terms of the promotion of women to their equity partnership ranks. Kudos to Ropes & Gray and Morgan Lewis for placing in the top 10 of each ranking, and a special shout-out to Jones Day; Paul Weiss; and Norton Rose for placing in the top 50 of the Female Equity Scorecard. (We’ll also acknowledge Skadden and Hogan Lovells here for coming so close. Maybe next year?) As for the rest of the firms listed here, this is pretty embarrassing. Your firms are great at making money, and it’s time to open your eyes and see the value of welcoming women into your equity partnership ranks. You can, you should, and you absolutely must do better.

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You can check out the rest of the rankings here.

The 2020 A-List: Female Equity Partner Scorecard [American Lawyer]

Earlier: The Am Law A-List: Ranking The Most Elite Law Firms In America (2020)

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked 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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