Percentage of women attaining partnership is steadily increasing, report finds
The percentage of women promoted to partnership in U.S. offices at many of the nation’s top law firms reached a five-year high of 37.3 percent this year, according to an analysis of law firm announcements and self-reported data.
The share of women promoted to partner was only 33 percent in 2012, according to the report by the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. Its 2016 findings are for promotions effective between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016, at 134 law firms, including 98 of the nation’s top 100 law firms. A press release is here and the report, with individual law firm findings, is here.
Ten of the 134 law firms that released partnership information didn’t promote any women to partnership, according to the report. Those firms had smaller than average new partner classes—2.9 lawyers on average.
The number of firms not promoting women has shrunk from prior years. There were 14 law firms that didn’t promote any women in 2015, 16 firms in 2014, 19 firms in 2013, and 13 firms in 2012.
At 32 firms, on the other hand, at least half of the lawyers promoted to partnership this year were women. Law firms in this group were:
• Andrews Kurth Kenyon (six women out of nine promoted)
• Beveridge & Diamond (four women out of six promoted)
• Blank Rome (five women out of seven promoted)
• Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft (three women out of five promoted)
• Cravath, Swaine & Moore (one woman out of two promoted)
• Dorsey & Whitney (six women out of 12 promoted)
• Epstein Becker & Green (two women out of three promoted)
• Faegre Baker Daniels (15 women out of 22 promoted)
• Farella Braun & Martel (the only person promoted was a woman)
• Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy (four women out of eight promoted)
• K&L Gates (21 women out of 36 promoted)
• Kaye Scholer (two women out of four promoted)
• Latham & Watkins (10 women out of 20 promoted)
• Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith (25 women out of 39 promoted)
• Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo (three women out of six promoted)
• Munger, Tolles & Olson (two women out of four promoted)
• Nixon Peabody (seven women out of 11 promoted
• Ogletree Deakins (nine women out of 12 promoted)
• O’Melveny & Myers (five women out of nine promoted)
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (eight women out of 15 promoted)
• Paul Hastings (five women out of eight promoted)
• Perkins Coie (11 women out of 22 promoted)
• Quarles & Brady (six women out of 12 promoted)
• Ropes & Gray (eight women out of 13 promoted)
• Schiff Hardin (four women out of six promoted)
• Steptoe & Johnson (two women out of four promoted)
• Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox (two women out of four promoted)
• Stroock & Stroock & Lavan (two women out of four promoted)
• Van Ness Feldman (one woman out of two promoted)
• Williams & Connolly (two women out of four promoted)
• Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker (seven women out of 14 promoted)
• Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice (four women out of seven promoted).
