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

NAWL released the results of their survey two weeks ago, albeit to less fanfare that other less-involved reports. While those of us who are familiar with the topic may find that much of what the survey reports is old news, there were some things reported that were surprising to me.

First, I was surprised to learn that the drop off in the number of women attorneys at firms happens between the senior associate level and the partner level. I was previously aware that women comprise somewhere between 45-50% of junior associates (actually 49% according to this survey) and somewhere around 17% of equity partners (actually 16%). I assumed that the lower representation of women was gradual with the percentages getting less and less with each year of associate-ship. However, the survey shows something much more striking. NAWL found that women make up 43% of 7th year associates, 30% of of-counsels, 26% of non-equity partners, and 16% of equity partners. Here’s what the report says about these numbers...