Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women List

Of the 100 women recognized by Forbes this month, I count 18 lawyers (or at least women with law degrees) in the mix:

2. Sheila Blair, Chiarwoman FDIC

8. Angela Braly, CEO WellPoint

16. Safra Catz, President Oracle

17. Christine Legarde, Minister of France's Economy, Finance & Employment

19. Marjorie Scardino, CEO Pearson 

36. Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State

40. Michelle Obama, First Lady

46. Ann Veneman, Executive Director UNICEF

48. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice

51. Janet Napolitano, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security

55. Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice

56. Mary Schapiro, Chairwoman SEC

63. Stacey Snider, CEO DreamWorks

64. Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

68. Tarja Halonen, President of Finland

69. Mary McAleese, President of Ireland

81. Amy Schulman, Sr. VP Pfizer

82. Penny Pritzker, Chairwomen Classic Residence at Hyatt

NAWL’s 2008 National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, Part II

Now for the second part of the NAWL survey that I found particularly interesting this year: the finding that "For both male and femail lawyers, moving (laterally moving between firms) is likely to be a better strategy than staying in the lawyer's original firm."  This finding was interesting to me (perhaps more than others) because I have no intention of ever making a lateral move and every intention to make partner at my current firm.  This finding was surprising to me since I was under the impression that law firm management wasn't happy about the ease at which young lawyers move from one firm to another.  I have been told that there is generational strife between baby boomers in law firm management that were brought up to be loyal and Gen X and Y'ers who have no sense of loyalty whatsoever.  The fact that laterals are more likely to make partner seems to fly in the face of that.  Afterall, behaviors that are rewarded are likely to be replicated by others.  The NAWL reports states:

The market for lateral partners impacts promotion to equity partner.  ... Laterals account for roughly two-thirds of women and three-quarters of mthe men who were newly promoted to equity partnership.  A startling 31% of new equity partners are recent laterals, suggesting that they were specifically recruited for or negotiated a move for equity positions.  It also appears that males are recruited more often for equity partnership than females.  Firm structure impacts the extend to which home-grown lawyers or lateral hires are promoted to equity partner.  One-tier firms are almost equally likely to promote women form within or import female talent, while two-tier and mixed-tier firms are much more likley to import equity level women lawyers than to advance their home-grown women lawyers.

NAWL’s 2008 National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, Part I

So, it is that time of year and NAWL released it's 2008 Survey report yesterday.  Truthfully, there isn't much to write about this survey that you can't learn by reading the report and posts about it from last year.  The numbers have not really changed.  However, there are two things in the report that I would like to discuss: (1) the "tier" structure of a law firm's partnership and how that impacts women hoping to make partner; and (2) the market for lateral hires and how that impacts women hoping to make partner.

First, I found the aspect of the report that deals with the impact of a firm's equity structure to be intriging.  The report describes three forms of equity structure: one-tier, two-tier, and mixed-tier.  One-tier firms are the traditional structure, those that have all partners contribute capital to the firm and all partners share (likely, in varying degrees) in the profits of the firm.  Two-tier firms have "equity" and "non equity" partners.  The non-equity partners carry the title of "partner" but are really just super associates.  They are still paid a base salary and bonus and do not contribute capital or share in the profits.  Usually, there is another decision to be made to "promote" somebody from non-equity to equity within two-tier firms.  The report also discusses a firm structure that is rarely discussed, that of the "mixed-tier" partnership.  Mixed-tier firms are one-tier or two-tier firms on paper but in fact they have "equity" partners who have contributed capital to the firm but do not share in the profits.  Instead, these partners get a fixed salary/bonus as compensation and lesser (or no) say in the management of the firm.  According to the report, fully 15% of the largest law firms are "mixed tier" firms.  The fact that these mixed-tier firms exist is not all that interesting but, what is fascinating, are the report's findings about how this structure impacts women:

The numbers, although preliminary, suggest that working in a mixed-tier firm is somewhat disadvantageous for a woman lawyer.  In mixed-tier firms, women constitute fewer than 13% of equity partners and 24% of non-equity partners, lower levels than in one-tier or two-tier firms.

The 50 Best Law Firms for Women - 2008

Click here to go straight to the list.

Flex-Time Lawyers and Working Mother Magazine have just released their 2008 ranking of "The 50 Best Law Firms for Women." You can download a PDF of the press release from www.flextimelawyers.com.

Reminder: Register for free NYC networking event by MAY 15 (the event will be on June 4th)

If you'll be in New York next month and you haven't yet registered, consider attending the free networking reception & presentation at White & Case on June 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We covered her survey here and here.) The deadline to RSVP is TOMORROW, May 15th. Hope to see you there! More details after the jump...

Number 63 and Abandoned: A Rant From the Forgotten Eighty Percent

I’m not in the top twenty of my class. I’m not even in the top twenty percent of my class. In fact, by definition, the majority of my law school class is not in the top twenty percent of my class. Yet, we keep being forgotten by our professors, our deans, and perhaps most noticeably, our career services offices.

Open invitation to Debbie Epstein Henry talk & networking reception in NYC @ White and Case (RSVP required)

Catherine Gratton and Kelly Hoey at the White & Case Women's Network have extended an invitation to Ms. JD readers in the NYC area to attend a free networking reception & presentation on June 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry (one of our favorite women in law) talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We analyzed her survey results here and here.) You can RSVP online until May 15th. See the flyer after the jump for more details...

Five Big Law firms ranked in Fortune's 100 best companies to work for

Five of the biggest Big Law firms are ranked in Fortune magazine's 2008 ranking of the 100 best companies to work for. The issue hits newsstands today, February 4th. Arnold & Porter comes in at #19, Alston & Bird at #31, Bingham McCutchen at #41, Perkins Coie at #55, and Nixon Peabody at #66. [The full list of companies is here--I tripled-checked, but tell me in the comments if I missed mentioning any legal employers on the list!]

To compile the ranking, Fortune and the Great Place to Work Institute surveyed just over 400 companies that are at least 7 years old and have more than 1,000 U.S. employees. So only the biggest of Big Law were eligible to be ranked. Writing up yet another Big Law ranking, I feel compelled to link to some of the best solo and small practice blogs at the same time--just to keep another option on the horizon for readers. Because for some lawyers, the answer to "where's the best place to work?" is surely "for yourself!" No matter what Fortune magazine says.

More on methods and highlights of the ranking, after the jump...

Open invitation to Debbie Epstein Henry talk & networking reception in DC @ White and Case (RSVP required)

Kelly Hoey (White and Case) & Anna MacCormack (NYU Law School) have very nicely extended an invitation to Ms. JD readers in the DC area to attend a free networking reception & presentation on Feb. 4th with Debbie Epstein Henry (another of our favorite women in law) talking about the Best Law Firms for Women ranking she undertook with Working Mother Magazine last year. (We analyzed her survey results here and here.) You can RSVP until January 31st. See the flyer after the jump for more details...

NAWL’s National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, Part II

In a previous post, I talked about some of the results recently reported by NAWL for their annual national survey. For the first time, NAWL asked firms questions about the retention policies and efforts to retain women lawyers. The survey focused on three structural issues: large minimum hour requirements, poor part-time policies, and the existence (or not) of a women’s initiative within the firm.