In Colorado, the number of practicing female lawyers drops sharply each decade, report says
Statistics in Colorado chronicle differences in the law-practice dropout rate between male and female lawyers.
The number of practicing male lawyers remains constant until retirement age, while the number of practicing women lawyers “declines sharply from decade to decade,” the Denver Post reports.
Women make up about half the state’s new lawyers after graduation from law school. By the time they reach age 50, female lawyers will be outnumbered by male lawyers 3-to-1, according to a report (PDF) cited in the article.
Some attribute the differences to women dropping out of the profession to have children. But experts interviewed by the newspaper suggested that biases could also be affecting women’s decision to leave law practice.
In law firms, women experience pay disparities and a lag in attaining partnership even if they don’t have children, University of Denver law professor Nancy Reichman said.
The profession’s emphasis on business generation may also play a part. A study set to be released this spring asked entry-level male and female lawyers to identify the skills they think are essential to success. The men placed the highest value on getting and retaining business, while the women placed the highest value on forming relationships, emotional intelligence, understanding social cues and big-picture thinking.
The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System conducted the study. Alli Gerkman, director of the group’s Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Initiative,spoke with the Denver Post about the findings. “If more women were working within firms that let [their valued] skill sets shine, organizations would see just how valuable they are to their clients,”she said.
