Women in the Law
Big Law Firms Lose Female Managing Partners, Raising Pipeline Issues
Posted Apr 15, 2008, 04:54 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A number of large law firms have recently lost their female managing partners, leading some to wonder whether women’s gains are slipping.
A survey of large law firms released in November by the National Association of Women Lawyers found that only 8 percent of law firm leaders are women, the National Law Journal reports. And a number of high-profile women have recently left managing posts, including Debora de Hoyos of Mayer Brown, Martha Barnett of Holland & Knight, and Mary Cranston of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.
Paula Hinton, a partner at Vinson & Elkins, wonders why other women aren’t taking their places. "It does seem that we're slipping," she told the National Law Journal. "Women leaders who were surfacing are dropping."
Some female managing partners who spoke to the publication blamed a lack of women who have acquired enough experience for the job—and a lack of women who want it.
"It's not for the faint of heart," said Jerry Clements, managing partner of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell. "People say that to do this job for more than five years is about as much as anyone can stand.”
She pointed to a “timing issue,” saying big law firms just began hiring women in the 1980s, so few have acquired the needed experience.
Hinton believes there are plenty of qualified women who would take on the job, and said the problem is a lack of opportunity. She counts herself as among those who would be eager to take on the responsibilities.