How Effectively Does Your Firm Support Retention and Advancement of Women Lawyers?

This Diagnostic was designed to help employers develop strategies to further the retention, advancement, and career development of women lawyers. Although women make up about a third of the legal profession and close to half of associates at major firms, the number of women equity partners in those firms remains low (15%) and the number of women in firm management and leadership roles is even smaller. Recent studies by the Washington and New York state bar associations, the National Association of Women Lawyer, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Catalyst, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and others, confirm that women lawyers continue to face obstacles to success in the legal profession – and that employers who are committed to women’s professional success can remove those barriers.