Women in the Law
Too Many Law Firm Layoffs are Gender-Biased, ABA Commission Chair Says
Posted Mar 18, 2009 1:53 PM CST
By Martha Neil
A recent cover article in Forbes magazine recounts claims being made by Wall Street women—and their lawyers—that female employees are bearing more than their fair share of recent layoffs.
But it isn't just on Wall Street that women are disappearing from the workforce, says the chair of the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession in a letter published in the magazine's March 30 issue. Commenting on the March article, "Wall Street's Disappearing Women," attorney Roberta Liebenberg of Philadelphia says law firms are laying off part-time attorneys, 75 percent of whom are women.
"Too many layoffs are based on gender-biased evaluations," Liebenberg wrote. "In this dire downturn, we can't allow the economy to be used as an excuse for gender bias and roll back the progress we've made."
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: "Law Firm Layoffs (and Alternatives) Create Litigation Risk"
ABAJournal.com: "Women Lawyers at the Top Earn Significantly Less than Men"
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Comments
B. McLeod
Mar 18, 2009 3:36 PM CST
The ability to disappear could be highly advantageous on Wall Street.
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Ricky Roma
Mar 19, 2009 11:43 AM CST
Read the article. They aren’t laying off women because they are women. They are laying off part time lawyers, 75% of whom happen to be women.
Do you really think there is some vast conspiracy to get rid of women? Only an idiot would even suggest that. As a matter of practical necessity, a law firm without women lawyers, especially those in positions of authority, is probably losing out on the perspective they can bring to the practice.
But, I’m sick and tired of so called feminists whining that women bear the brunt of layoffs when women also take the lions share of family leave and make most of the decisions to work part time. They may *have* to do so in order to have a family, but that’s their choice. Should the firm go grab some guy who has never taken a vacation, who is the sole breadwinner in his family, and lay HIM off just so that some overprivileged whining woman’s studies reject can say that there were no gender-based layoffs?
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alex
Mar 19, 2009 12:11 PM CST
part time mom’s will always be the first to go when the economy goes south - the company will always keep the harder working folk
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