The new report entitled ‘Retaining and Advancing Women in National Law Firms’ shows that achievements in gender equality at US law schools, where women have made up more than 50 per cent of graduates for decades, have failed to trigger any meaningful knock-on effects in the upper echelons of the nation’s top law firms. Of the 250 biggest law firms in the US, the report found that only five had partnerships where at least 25 per cent of equity partners are women. The report also found that women lawyers in large firms billed fewer hours, earned lower salaries (even after controlling for factors like fewer billed hours), were retained at lower rates and were significantly less likely to advance to the partnership than their male colleagues. ‘This is a very real and costly exodus of talent for firms,’ argues the report, citing one study which places the average cost to law firms for the attrition of each associate at $400,000.

The ‘billable hour’ burden

Interestingly, the report finds that the prevalence of the billable hour as an ‘objective’ measure of performance is one of the most significant factors weighing down the advancement of women in major law firms. Though bias and in-group dynamics continue to weigh down women as they move up the career ladder, the billable hour plays a key role in downplaying the contribution that women make to their firms and discrediting the quality of their work in favour of a quantity-centric approach to performance. Additionally, the emphasis on time-based performance metrics has created an enduring industry stigma around alternative work arrangements which could support women hoping to balance BigLaw careers with other commitments, such as part time work or flexible working arrangements.

Stanford Law School’s full report can be found here.