Why So Few Women Partners? Maybe They Don’t Want the Job, Lawyer Says
A partner at Lewis and Roca in Las Vegas notes the numbers: About half of law school graduates are women, but fewer than one in five big-firm partners are women.
So what are the reasons for the “leakage?” Writing for the Las Vegas Sun, lawyer Lisa Wong Lackland notes possible answers cited in a recent article in law360.com. The problems include stereotyping, bias in performance reviews, a lack of mentors, too few good assignments and family burdens.
“But what about other reasons?” Lackland writes. “I’ll add my own, nonexpert reason to the list—many women don’t want to be a partner at a big law firm. And that’s OK.”
But what’s not OK, Lackland says, is for women being denied the opportunity. She says her own law firm has long had progressive policies for the promotion and retention of women.
She urges other law firms to emphasize strong mentoring and allow for work-life balance. That includes allowing women to stay on the partnership track even when they take time off to have children or when they work part-time.
“Law firm leaders, both male and female, need to remain committed to providing a woman with the environment necessary to becoming a partner, if that is her chosen path,” she writes.
Also see:
ABAJournal.com: “Quinn Emanuel Makes Kathleen Sullivan Name Partner”
