More women are  practising law and accounting for nearly half of law graduates but  the statistics do not follow through into senior roles in law firms. Women make up 47 per cent of law school graduates and 45 per cent of associates at big law firms and yet they have accounted for only 17 per cent of equity partners and 25 per cent of non-equity partners in the past five years, according to new data from ALM Legal Intelligence.

Irony

‘Lawyers are at the forefront of the push for non-discrimination and equal opportunity under the law, but ironically, the legal profession is consistently ranked as one of the worst industries when it comes to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce,' Daniella Isaacson, senior analyst at ALM Legal Intelligence and author of the report, said. ‘If Big Law firms aren't taking the time and effort to analyze gender diversity in their industry and their firms, they will remain behind the curve.’

UK findings similar

The findings echo those the UK where less than a fifth (19 per cent) of partners at top 10 law firms are women, according to executive search and market research firm Edward Drummond, as Global Legal Post recently reported. The research company said that the UK’s biggest law firms had been slower at addressing gender balance issues at partner level than mid-tier rivals due to their size making them less nimble than smaller firms.

Law firms losing out

But, law firms could be losing out as a result as a survey released by consulting firm Acritas last year demonstrated that 'very diverse' legal teams performed better and get 25 per cent more of clients' total legal spend than teams that are 'not at all diverse.' Significant differences were reported in relation to the value delivered, with overall satisfaction scores are also significantly improved when clients are working with very diverse teams.

Methodology

That report was based on 1,771 interviews with senior-in-house counsel around the world, with respondents defining diversity primarily in terms of gender, but also according to race and ethnicity, nationality, LGBT identification, age and years of experience.