How Advancing Women In Law Advances The Firms Final

HOW ADVANCING WOMEN IN
LAW ADVANCES THE FIRM’S
LAW ADVANCES THE FIRM S
BUSINESS
Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC
Lawyers Life Coach, Inc.
CCM Audio Conference
July 15, 2009
July 15 2009

© 2009 Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D. Lawyers Life Coach, Inc.

Overview of Presentation
• Where are the women? • What blocks the advancement of women?
Stereotypes/Bias
• Why should you care? Lack of mentors/sponsors
Costs of attrition Absence of role models
Pressure for diversity Exclusion from informal
Brain drain networks
Lack of opportunities for
Opportunity costs
advancement
Women leave to work for potential
clients Work/family conflict
Not just a “women’s issue” Stigmatized work/life policies
Compensation inequities
Inequity in the system designed to
preserve justice
• What can you do to retain talent?
y
Mentoring
• Why do women leave?
Business development
Myths
Credit assignment systems
Realities
Succession planning
Work assignment systems
g y
Addressing bias
Evaluation processes
Transparent advancement policies
Balanced hours policies
Compensation policies
Measure results


WHAT HAPPENS TO WOMEN
AFTER THEY ENTER LAW
FIRMS?


Source: Catalyst
y


Percent of Positions at Law Firms By
G d
Gender
100
80
60 92%
52% 55% 74% 84%
56% 64%
40 48%
45%
20 44%
34%
0 27%
16%
6% Women
Men

Source: Catalyst, NALP
S C l A P


Percentage of Women

US Population
60

50 Law Students
40
Lawyers
30

20 Law Firm Partners

10
General Counsel
0


The Leaky Pipeline

Although the nation's law
g
schools for years have been
graduating classes that are
almost evenly split between
men and women, and
men and women and
although firms are
absorbing new associates in
numbers that largely reflect
that balance, something
unusual happens to most
women after they begin to
climb into the upper tiers of
law firms. They disappear.
They disappear.

Source: Epstein, Attrition of Senior
W
Women: The Leaky Pipeline
h k Pi li


Where Are the Women?

20 19.4
94
73% Women
15
Men
10
9.5
5

0

g
Average Years in Practice for Women


Where are Women of Color?
%o
% of Minority Women
o ty o e Attrition Rate for
tt t o Rate o
After 5 Years Minority Women by 8th
Year

Remaining Remaining
at first firm at First
Firm
i
Leaving
First Firm Leaving
First Firm


% Of Women Partners in Law Firms from
1994 2008
1994–2008
20.0%

18.0%

16.0%

14.0%

12.0%

10.0%

8.0%

6.0%

4.0%

2.0%

0.0%
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
y
Source: Catalyst


While women s representation as
While women’s representation as
partner in all categories in “major” law
firms has increased, Catalyst concludes
that at the present rate “women will not
achieve parity with men in law firm
partnerships until 2088.”


WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

C f A i i
•Costs of Attrition
•Pressure for Diversity
•Brain Drain
•Opportunity Costs
•Women Leave to Work for Potential Clients
•Not Just a “Women’s Issue”
•Inequity in the System Designed to Preserve Justice


Replacing each attorney who leaves costs between
$200,000
$200 000 and $500 000 ‐‐ and this does not include the
$500,000
hidden costs of client dissatisfaction due to turnover,
lost business of clients who leave with departing
attorneys, and damage to the firm's reputation and
morale.
Source: Project for Attorney Retention


CLIENTS ARE
INCREASINGLY
HOLDING OUTSIDE
COUNSEL
ACCOUNTABLE FOR
DIVERSITY


"Forget about skin color or
gender or whatever, if you
want to run a great
business, you need great,
business you need great
talented people. And I don't
care if I'm hiring Martians if
it makes good business
sense," says Michael M.
Boone, a founding partner
Boone a founding partner
of Haynes and Boone in
Dallas. "Even the largest
g
firms are at risk if they don't
do this."


TALENT WALKS OUT THE DOOR


Firms that retain women lawyers
experience :
•Better recruiting
•Greater productivity
•Improved client service
•Reduced turnover expenses

Rutgers’ Center for Women and Work


The women you lose may become your potential
clients


NOT JUST A WOMEN’S ISSUE


Women lawyers are…
y

the miner s canary of the
the “miner’s canary” of the
legal profession

…while many attorneys want
to achieve greater diversity, they
do not necessarily want to rethink
the structures that get in the way.
According to many surveyed lawyers,
their firms pay “lip service” to the
value of diversity but do not make
it a priority…
Deborah Rhode, In the Interests of Justice
Deborah Rhode In the Interests of Justice


WHY DO WOMEN LEAVE?

Myths and Realities


WHY WOMEN LEAVE

THE
MYTH

Motherhood Mystique
y q

•Common belief that women
want to leave firm practice in
response to natural maternal
l l
imperative

•Belief that women opt out of
work to fulfill desire for family

•Completely obscures the fact
that most women lawyers want
to:

COMBINE WORK
& FAMILY

Source: NAWL, MIT Workplace Center


Nearly 80% of the women who
leave firm practice do not “opt out”
of the workforce but work, often as
f h kf b k f
lawyers, in workplaces that provide
better arrangements than law
firms for combining work and time
g
for families
MIT Workplace, 2007


Reality: Most Women Relocate Within

the Profession Source: MIT Workplace Center, NALP

Percentage of Women Leaving Firms
e ce tage o Wo e eav g
Center s
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Other firms In house Gov't Clerkships Non‐profits Business,
etc.
etc


OPTING OUT??
PUSH FACTORS
Inflexible work structures
Stereotypes
Exclusion from informal networks
Lack of mentors, role models,
advancement opportunities
d t t iti
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
PULL FACTORS
Family y
Other aspects of life

Women leave their
firms, not practice.
fi i
Only 9% are not
working 15 years post‐
graduation.
graduation


WHAT BLOCKS THE
ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN?

•Stereotypes/Bias
L k f M i
•Lack of Mentoring
•Exclusion from Informal Networks
•Absence of Role Models
•Lack of Opportunities for Advancement
•Work/Family Conflict
•Stigmatized Work/Life Policies
•Compensation Inequities


GENDER BIAS


What s the First Thing You See?
What's the First Thing You See?
• Race, gender and age
are cues
• Perceptually salient
• A
Among first social
fi i l
categories that
children learn
• Lead to automatic
categorization
• Hard if not impossible
to inhibit


Stereotypes…
• allow efficient if sometimes
allow efficient, if sometimes
inaccurate, processing of information.

• often conflict with consciously held or
“explicit” attitudes.
“ li i ” i d
Nosek, Banaji, & Greenwald, 2002
, j, ,


Stereotypes are Self‐Confirming
Stereotypes are Self‐


Minorities and women are
often held to higher
standards regarding their
d d di h i
credibility and intelligence
by supervisors and clientele,
and their missteps are often
p
more damaging to their
reputations than would be
the same missteps by
majority colleagues who are
j it ll h
not saddled by stereotypes
that they are less capable.”

MCCA Creating Pathways to
Diversity, White Men and Diversity – A
Closer Look p.


THE DOUBLE BIND FOR WOMEN

Women must demonstrate a
W t d t t
higher level of competence
or demonstrate their
competence over and over
p
again

AND

Women are penalized for
being
too competent


He’s
smart
and
talented;
;
she’s
y
lucky.


What is assertive or
ambitious in a
man is aggressive in a
woman.
woman


When a man brings attention to a substantial accomplishment,
he’s “confident;” when a woman does the same she’s arrogant
or self‐aggrandizing.


What does it mean when you ask a
y
question?


Women of Color Face Double
Barrier of Race and Gender
B i f R d G d
• 62% felt excluded from
networking
opportunities
pp
• 49% felt subjected to
demeaning comments,
harassment
h t
• 44% had been denied
desirable assignments

ABA Visible Invisibility


Stereotypes are…
Stereotypes are
Applied more under
circumstances of:
Time pressure
Ambiguity, lack of
information
Stress from competing
tasks
Lack of critical mass


LACK OF MENTORING


Women suffer from
lack of mentoring
within the largest of
the firms to the extent
h f h
that it would offer
them insight into the
rules of the game
where they work.
Doing a good job in and
of itself is rarely the
path to partnership
th t t hi
and large bonuses: a
valuable lesson women
often learn too late.

Source: NAWL


“What success I have had is in
large part due to mentoring
by senior male partners, who
insisted that their work and
mine meet the highest
standards for legal work,
pushed me to develop
business even when I was
afraid to, and ‘pounded the
table for me when it
table’ for me when it
counted. Most of these men
had justified reputations as
‘tough guys’ — and I was
hardly tough
hardly tough — but they took
the time to teach me the
skills necessary to succeed. I
do not minimize the impact
they had on my career.
they had on my career.”
Stephanie Scharf, former president NAWL


Exclusion from
Informal Networks


SIMILARITIES ATTRACT


41 % of the woman lawyers
felt an unsupportive work
environment was the top
reason for leaving a job.
They cited a glass ceiling
They cited a "glass ceiling"
or gender bias that
prevents women from
advancing to top positions.
g pp
Some respondents said
this was shown by male
partners' camaraderie with
male associates, who then
l i h h
were introduced to clients
and were able to share in
business origination.
business origination

"Legal Talent at the Crossroads: Why New
Jersey Women Lawyers Leave their Law Firms
d h h h
and Why They Choose to Stay" "


ABSENCE OF ROLE MODELS


LACK OF
OPPORTUNITIES
TO ADVANCE


55% of white women
and
32% of women of color
–
but less than 5% of
but less than 5%
white men –
white men –
say they missed client
relationship and
developmental
opportunities due to
gender

Source: ABA Visible Invisibility


The study also found
A recent study by K h
A
A recent study by Keshet
d b Keshet
K that:
that
Consulting Inc. found • 75% of women had
g
that gender bias in inadequate business
assignments along with development
exclusion or limitations resources
on women lawyers
on women lawyers’
participation in pitch
groups and team selling • 53% lacked business
opportunities greatly
ii l development training
d l i i
limit women lawyer’
ability to acquire the
y q
skills required for high • Nearly 50% had
N l % h d
origination.
origination difficulty finding
mentors


WORK‐
WORK‐
FAMILY
CONFLICT


Nearly 70% of the male lawyers with
children are married to spouses or
partners who have a lesser
t h h l
commitment to their own careers,
and are therefore able to provide
family care. The opposite is true for
family care The opposite is true for
the women lawyers with children.
Their spouses or partners have an
equal or greater commitment to
their own careers so both partners
are under a time squeeze. Typically,
it is women who decrease work
hours and—in the firms—
encounter undependable support
for reduced‐hour schedules or for
periods out of the workplace.

Source: MIT Workplace Center, NAWL


Women lawyers want to
work in an environment
where they can succeed in
the court room, the office,
at home and even at play
and they don't want to be
penalized for seeking that
li d f ki h
balance. Law firms that
are not responding to the
need for change are seeing
and will continue to see
attrition among female
lawyers.
lawyers


In a study of over 700
graduates of the University of
Michigan Law School who
graduated between 1970 and
d d b d
1996 “my statistical tests
indicated that fathers earn 15
to 20 percent more than
lawyers without children (a
‘daddy bonus’) and that
mothers earn 10 to 15 percent
less than childless lawyers (a
‘mommy penalty’).”
Source: Neil Buchanan, quoted in The Lawyers Weekly
Source: Neil Buchanan quoted in The Lawyers Weekly


Pregnancy Triggers the Maternal
Wall
W ll


STIGMATIZED WORK/LIFE
POLICIES


“Before I went part‐time, when I did not
give people the turnaround they hoped
for, they gave me the benefit of the doubt.
All that ended when I went part‐time. As
a result, my performance evaluations fell,
a result my performance evaluations fell
even though the quality of my work didn’t
change.”
g

Source: Joan Williams & Cynthia Calvert, Project for Attorney Retention, Center for WorkLife L UC H ti
S J Willi & C thi C l t P j t f Att R t ti C t f W kLif Law, UC Hastings
College of the Law


40% of women solve the time
problem by reducing work hours to
part‐
part‐time.

Less than 2% of men work part‐
Less than 2% of men work part‐
time.

Only 5.4% of all lawyers work part
time.

Of all part‐time lawyers, 75% are
Of all part‐
women.

Women who use part‐time stay in
Women who use part‐
law firm positions longer than
women who remain fulltime, but
h i f ll i b
are less likely to make partner than
the fulltime women who do remain.
Source: NAWL


Maternal Wall Bias
Maternal Wall Bias

“Before I went part
f p
time, when I wasn’t
at my desk, people
assumed I was at a
business meeting.
Afterwards, they
assumed I was home
d I h
with my kids, even if I
was with a client.”
Source: Joan Williams & Cynthia Calvert, Project for
Attorney Retention, Center for WorkLife Law, UC
Hastings College of the Law


A Boston attorney returned from
maternity leave to find that she was
given the work of a paralegal. I wanted
given the work of a paralegal “I wanted
to say, look, I had a baby, not a
lobotomy.”


Evaluations by senior males
emphasize strong and
h d
explicit time norms in
favor of 24/7 availability.
Women associates were
W i t
praised for not allowing
pregnancy or family
members health care
members’ health care
needs to interfere with
their “commitment” to the
firm.
Source: Project for Attorney Retention


“Many firms operate under a
laissez faire approach to
pp
retention and promotion,
assuming that the best and
the brightest will automatically
move up the ladder.
p
Unfortunately, junior and senior
lawyers alike are often naïve as
to how law firm culture affects a
lawyer’s progress.  Far too many
g
intelligent and hard‐
intelligent and hard‐working
women lawyers enter with
the same fine record as their
male counterparts, only to
end up several years later with
the unsatisfying conclusion,
‘I’m doing my best but it isn’t
good enough.’  And out the law
firm door they go.”

Stephanie Scharf, former president NAWL


COMPENSATION
INEQUITIES


Salary Disparity Between Women
d M L
and Men Lawyers
$14,000

90,000
$87,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
Men's Earnings in Excess
4
40,000
of Women s
of Women's
30,000
$23,000
20,000
$14,000
10,000
10 000
0
Of‐Counsel Non‐Equity Equity
Partners Partners Source: Catalyst, NAWL


Unless and until
women partners feel
p
fully embraced, fully
respected, fully
compensated, what
compensated what
is the message that
they are conveying
y y g
downward?
Source: NAWL


WHAT CAN YOU DO TO
RETAIN TALENTED WOMEN?
•Mentoring
•Business Development
•Credit Assignment Systems
•Succession Planning
g y
•Work Assignment Systems
•Addressing Bias
•Evaluation Processes
•Transparent Advancement Policies
•Balanced Hours Policies
•Compensation Policies
•Measure Results


MENTORING


Train Mentors and Mentees
It is not only a best
y
practice to have a formal
mentoring program
when trying to diversify
your workforce, it is also
indisputable that the
main reason minorities
leave firms is because
they are not mentored
and do not see any
dd
chances for
advancement.


BUSINESS
DEVELOPMENT
Training and mentoring
•Training and mentoring
•Credit assignment systems
•Succession planning


Train Women in Business
Development
D l
A rising tide lifts all boats, but
A i i id lif ll b b
not if most of the women
professionals are being
torpedoed. It is in the
enlightened self‐i
enlightened self‐interest of law
li h d lf f l
firms to train their women
lawyers to become rainmakers.
Not only will the firm benefit,
but the glass ceiling that stops
b h l ili h
the careers of women lawyers
will be shattered.

Source: NAWL


“In this day and age,
any pitch team that is
yp
exclusively male
should raise eyebrows
within the firm —
i hi h fi
because eyebrows will
certainly be raised
when the team arrives
at the client’s office.”
ff
Source: NAWL


Expand the concept of credit
to include the
contributions to retaining
clients of all lawyers on the
team.


Require
formal
succession
planning.


Insure equal
access to high‐
access to high‐
profile, high‐
profile, high‐
revenue
assignments so
crucial
for skill
development,
exposure to
powerful partners
f l
and
advancement.


IMPLICIT BIAS TRAINING

“Stereotype activation
may be automatic but
stereotype application
can be controlled.”

Blair, 2002


“Women attorneys must be
reviewed in a fair, impartial
manner if they are to secure their
place within the partnership ranks
and receive fair compensation
d i f i i
and an unbiased opportunity to
advance. Without such, women
will not remain at firms
will not remain at firms.

The advancement and retention of
women lawyers are essential to a
law firm’s growth and survival.
Most notably, the future of the
legal profession depends upon it.”
g p f p p

Pamela J. Roberts, Chair, ABA Commission on Women in
the Profession


“Transparency in the promotion process is critically important to achieving a
diverse leadership. Associates must have clear and specific information regarding
expectations so that they can stay on course for leadership positions.”
Source: NAWL


BALANCED HOURS POLICIES


Non‐
Non‐stigmatized flexible work arrangements
available
to all lawyers and staff


PRINCIPLE OF PROPORTIONALITY


COMPENSATION
POLICIES


Hold partners
p
accountable. A lot of
firms lose sight of the
impact of their
compensation systems
on the behavior of
their partners.
h i

Source: NAWL
S NAWL


Compensate teamwork, business development activities, firm
citizenship, leadership and mentoring of diverse attorneys.


WHAT GETS
MEASURED
GETS DONE


Ellen Ostrow, Ph.D., CMC
Ellen Ostrow Ph D CMC
910 17th Street N. W.
Suite 306
Washington, D.C. 20006
Phone: 202‐595‐3108
Fax: 301‐587‐4327
E‐mail:
ellen@lawyerslifecoach.com
ellen@lawyerslifecoach com


How Advancing Women In Law Advances The Firms Final

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to How Advancing Women In Law Advances The Firms Final

Similar to How Advancing Women In Law Advances The Firms Final (20)

How Advancing Women In Law Advances The Firms Final