The results indicate that the legal profession is taking serious steps to support families. For example, the firms surveyed offer, on average, more than sixteen weeks paid parental leave for their female attorneys. Nearly all firms have a written policy allowing for flexible or part-time work schedules.
YLW also recognizes that congratulations must be tempered by the need for improved policies. This year’s survey results highlight the problem: while the average percentage of female associates was more than forty percent, the average percentage of female partners was less than twenty percent. Across the profession, the percentage of female associates becoming partners has not increased in more than twenty years. Because women are still largely responsible for child rearing, inadequate family friendly policies may be impacting the number of women able to succeed at firms’ highest levels.
When YLW first released the Top Ten List in 2006, the goal was to spark a dialogue about work-life balance in the nation’s major law firms. Three years later, that dialogue has grown into a loud chorus, from law review articles to Working Mother surveys. However, as Judith Kaye, Chief Judge of the State of New York, noted in her recent Fordham Law Review article, The Progress of Women Lawyers at Big Firms: Steadied or Simply Studied?, many of the problems chronicled in great detail over the past several years remain.
This year, YLW hopes that the Top Ten List will be a catalyst for substantive change. Firms now have an opportunity to compare their policies to those of their peers. Practicing attorneys can use the List to advocate for improved work-life balance, and current law students can better assess their future employers.
The Top Ten List press release is available here.