The long and winding road to gender parity in the legal profession

While significant progress has been made in gender parity throughout the legal profession, ours continues to be an uphill climb. The long and winding road to where we are today was built upon the broad shoulders of pioneering women who overcame considerable odds to blaze a trail for modern female practitioners.

According to the American Bar Association, it all started with Margaret Brent, this country's first woman lawyer, in 1648. As proof of women's slow advancement in the law in the U.S., it would be another 221 years before Arabella Mansfield became the first female admitted to a state bar in 1869 after passing the Iowa bar exam despite a state statute prohibiting women from taking the test.

Other critical milestones included Charlotte E. Ray, the first African American woman lawyer, and the first woman admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia in 1872. Pioneers included Florence E. Allen, the first woman to serve on a state supreme court in 1920, and Sandra Day O'Connor, the first female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981. These are just a few women who have opened doors for others to follow.

I understand firsthand the challenges women face in this profession, having overcome many gender-oriented hurdles throughout my career. Fortunately, the firm where I worked as a paralegal before law school had two well-known female attorneys who made a lasting impression on me. One played a pivotal role in drafting the equitable distribution statute for the State of New York, which governs the division of assets in the event of a divorce.

Similarly, the firm where I started my career as a lawyer had a female partner who went on to become a Federal Judge, one who was General Counsel at Universal Studios, and a third who is one of the most respected trial lawyers in the country.

Ultimately, I had access to a few tremendous female role models, even as I was still figuring out who I was and what I wanted to become. Trailblazers like these women showed me that women could make a difference in this profession and succeed. Their accomplishments resonated with my desire to make a difference, to help open other doors for women lawyers, and to bring the highest ethical standards to my work.

Closing the gender gap? More like closing the chasm!

Women have made great strides in closing the gender gap, but it is essential to note this "gap" was, for the longest time, a "gaping chasm." The American Bar Association (ABA) reported that between 1950 and 1970, women represented less than 5% of the total number of attorneys in the U.S. Forbes reported that as of 2023, women made up 39.51% of this country's more than 1.3 million lawyers. That number is up only a few points over the 33% of ten years ago and is far lower than the number of women with their Juris Doctorate degrees, which Pew Research Center reports is around 52% female--up from about 30% in 1980. Progress is sometimes slow, but it is still progress. Pew also reports that women make up 35% of workers in the U.S.'s ten highest-paying, advanced-degree occupations--up from 13% in 1980.

In 2021, the ABA found that 47% of associates in law firms were women, while only 22% of equity partners and 12% of managing partners were female. Bloomberg Law projected that without drastic changes to the current trajectory, parity for women partners will not be achieved until 2181--an astounding and genuinely disappointing trend.

Two bright spots have been in-house general counsel positions and women in estate planning. The ABA reported that women occupied 67% of general counsel roles, and Zippia.com reports that about 55% of estate planning attorneys are women. These statistics contrast with much lower percentages of women in critical judicial positions. The same ABA report found that in 2022, of the 1,409 federal judges, only 30% were women, and only 41% of state supreme court justices were women. In the courts, the chasm still exists.

Women gravitate to niche practice groups

While gains have been made across the board, studies have shown that female attorneys tend to be attracted to niche practice groups, such as education, family law, health care, immigration, and labor and employment. Women remain underrepresented in practice areas like corporate and litigation. For instance, women made up only 12% of all attorneys appearing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board between the fall of 2012 and August 2021, according to the PTAB Bar Association. Intellectual property practices remain overwhelmingly male, as does the field of appellate attorneys.

It is unclear why women are less likely to work in criminal law. However, one article stated it boils down to "obstacles such as limited work schedule flexibility, insufficient training opportunities, and a relatively small supply of mentors who can make a difference in their careers."

I chose a career in law primarily because of influential role models in my life and early training. As I wrote in a recent LinkedIn article about my family's legal legacy, my father, grandfather, uncle, and several cousins were highly respected attorneys. But it was the few pioneering women lawyers who worked with them that made a lasting impression on me. They were brilliant, competent, and well-respected; early exposure to women in the profession showed me that law could be a path for me.

More progress needed

Creating more opportunities for women in the legal profession is an imperative. Many firms are staunchly committed to diversity efforts, including women, minorities, and LGBTQ+ attorneys.

I have witnessed tremendous advancement of women in the law over my long career. Those gains have been hard-fought, yet more progress is needed--from the highest courts in the land to every other level of the profession.

As the incoming Chair of Public Counsel, I see many women lawyers leading the way in providing much-needed legal aid to those in need. Compassionate community and philanthropic service are other hallmarks of many women I have worked with in our legal community. I hope this trend continues.

I am heartened by the fact that slightly more than half of law school students are now women, which bodes well for the future of this industry. Hopefully, women can continue to break the glass ceiling and achieve greater parity in law practices and on the bench. The profession truly benefits when lawyers are as diverse as the clients we serve.