President's Message

Despite promises and policy changes, experienced women attorneys are still leaving private practice at a far higher rate than men. The questions of why and what can be done about it are explored in Walking Out the Door: The Fact, Figures, and Future of Experienced Women Lawyers in Private Practice, a report recently published by The American Bar Association and ALM Intelligence. The ABA and ALM Intelligence report that “[a]mong the top reasons female lawyers gave for leaving the practice of law included: caretaking commitments, the level of stress at work, the emphasis on marketing or originating business and number of billable hours.”[1] The report also found that senior women attorneys leave large law firms because they are not given the same opportunities to succeed. More striking was the different perceptions women and men had about the progress their firms were making toward gender equality and the advancement of women. Although firm leaders and male partners believe their firms are making strides in these areas, women at those firms feel otherwise. In addition, while women and men are similarly satisfied with the work they do, they did not feel the same sense of satisfaction when it came to receiving recognition, compensation, advancement opportunities and their firms commitment to gender diversity.[2] The findings are similar to those included in the 2019 National Association of Women Lawyers Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, which concluded: