Distinguished women lawyers from around the country were scheduled to gather at Harvard Law School this week to discuss a problem that has affected the legal profession for decades —experienced women leaving the legal profession in substantial numbers.
The National Summit on Achieving Long-Term Careers for Women in Law is sponsored by the American Bar Association and hosted by Harvard Law School Executive Education, and will be held at Wasserstein Hall on the Harvard Law School campus in Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was scheduled to offer videotaped welcoming remarks, and Christina Tchen, partner, Buckley Sandler LLP and former assistant to the president and chief of staff to First Lady Michelle Obama and former executive director of the White House Council on Women and Girls, was among the panelists
Statistics show that for more than 25 years, close to half of law school graduates have been women, entering the profession at the same rate as men.
However, gender differences quickly emerge.
Forty-one percent of the lawyers age 40 or older at firms are women, and their numbers continue to shrink.
Only 27 percent of the lawyers who are age 50 or older at firms are women.
In addition, those women remain aren’t moving up into law firm leadership.
While women constitute 40 percent to 45 percent of associates in the entering classes of U.S. big law firms, they make up only about 25 percent of partners and a mere 18 percent of equity partners.
“Too little is understood about the career dynamics of women lawyers,” said ABA President Hilarie Bass, who has made this issue one of the signature initiatives of her presidential term.
“What we do know is far too many women lawyers are leaving the profession in what should be the prime of their careers.”
“This is a huge loss of talent and expertise to the legal profession and to our justice system that we cannot afford. This summit will be a big step toward getting more information and developing real solutions.”
The event will focus on the unique issues and career dynamics facing women lawyers in practice for more than 20 years, organizers said, and explore the reasons for their disproportionately high rate of attrition.
The summit today and Wednesday will identify best practices to retain senior women lawyers, whose professional development entailed substantial investments by their firms and companies over the years and who have created strong relationships with the clients they serve.
The commission is co-chaired by Roberta D. Liebenberg, senior partner, Fine Kaplan & Black, RPC and past chair of the ABA Commission on Women; and Stephanie A. Scharf, partner, Scharf Banks Marmor LLC and chair of the ABA Commission on Women.
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