Although women have been graduating from law schools at approximately the same rate as men for the past two decades, women still comprise only 16 percent of law firm equity partners. The representation of women in law firm leadership positions is even smaller.

In order to ameliorate the longstanding "leaky pipeline" phenomenon, in which attrition takes an increasing toll on women the longer they are out of law school, it is imperative that more women achieve positions of power, influence and leadership in their law firms.

Since the attainment of such positions is often dependent upon being considered a "rainmaker," it is critically important that origination credit and compensation systems fairly reflect the contributions made by women partners in attracting and growing their firms' business.

Statistics compiled by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) underscore the extent of the problem. The October 2009 NAWL Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms, which tracked the progress of women at 200 of the nation's largest law firms, reported that women are grossly underrepresented in the top levels of leadership at these firms.

Where Are the Women?
On average, women comprise only 15 percent of the governing committees of the firms surveyed. Remarkably, 14 percent of these firms do not have any women on their governing committees, and only 6 percent of the respondent firms have women managing partners. Equally distressing is the fact that almost half of the firms have no women among their top 10 rainmakers.

The dearth of women in law firm governance adversely affects all women at a firm. Firm leaders determine the policies within a firm regarding compensation, billable hour requirements, assignments, elevation to partnership, part-time, flex-time and other alternative work arrangements, and overall firm culture. If firms do not have a critical mass of women in these policy-making roles, the decisions made by the firm in these all-important areas are far less likely to be accommodating to the needs of women and, as a result, their opportunities to advance and succeed will be impaired.

The attainment of leadership in a firm is often dependent upon being considered a successful business-getter. Therefore, ensuring the fairness of origination credit and compensation systems can go a long way toward addressing the leadership gap.

This should lead, in turn, to the implementation of more women-friendly firm policies that will hopefully help stem the tide of attrition of women lawyers. The end result is a win-win for women lawyers and their law firms, which have invested considerable resources in recruiting and training their women lawyers, and thus have a strong self-interest in retaining them.

Origination & compensation
An increasing number of firms have recognized that business origination credit should not be given just to a single partner, but instead should also be accorded to partners who have worked on the client's matters once the client has come in the door. A woman who has done significant work for a client, resulting in substantial fees and the client's referral of additional matters to the firm, ought to be recognized for her contribution. This teamwork approach not only incentivizes everyone to pitch in and help grow the client's business, it also strengthens the client's ties with a larger base of firm partners.

An added benefit of such a team approach is that in this increasingly mobile legal market, the departure of a single partner may not necessarily result in the loss of that partner's clients.

Also, as senior partners are winding down their practices and preparing for retirement, it is important that women be treated equitably in the succession process. Many firm clients are passed down from senior partners to more junior partners, and women must be given a fair opportunity to "inherit" clients for whom they have done substantial work.

Women attorneys at law firms are often impacted adversely not only by their firm's origination credit system, but also by its overall compensation system. Ever since women entered the legal profession, there has been a disparity in compensation between male and female attorneys. In fact, a U.S. Census Bureau Report recently revealed that the median income of women lawyers is only 78 percent of their male counterparts.

Moreover, this income shortfall is even greater for women attorneys of color, who are paid less than both male and white female attorneys. The inequality in pay results in greater job dissatisfaction and higher rates of attrition for both junior and senior women lawyers.

According to the report, the wage gap between male and female lawyers is present at every level of employment, from associate to partner, and increases as lawyers become more senior. When women transition out of the associate ranks and into counsel, non-equity or equity partner positions, they receive less compensation than male attorneys, regardless of firm structure or status level in the firm. Indeed, the largest gap in compensation is between male and female equity partners. In 99 percent of large firms, the most highly compensated partner is a man.

As noted earlier, the paucity of women in positions of leadership at a law firm has a significant effect on all women within a firm, particularly in the area of compensation. This is vividly illustrated by the findings of the NAWL survey — firms without any women rainmakers in their top 10 rainmakers have a much greater pay differential between male and female partners than other firms. Conversely, firms that have at least three or four women in the top 10 rainmakers have the smallest gap in male/female compensation.

Making changes
Inasmuch as the current economic downturn is causing many law firms to re-evaluate their compensation systems, now is an opportune time to implement changes to such systems to make them fairer to women.

Changes that ought to be considered include the following:

• De-emphasize the role of the billable hour in determining compensation, and give greater emphasis to the quality of the attorney's work and the myriad contributions made by the attorney both to clients and to the administration of the firm;

• Review performance evaluation systems to ensure that implicit bias does not play a role in assignments, performance reviews, compensation and partnership decisions;

• Make compensation criteria more transparent;

• Ensure that compensation committees are diverse and include more than a token woman;

• Give credit for compensation purposes to attorneys who have excelled in mentoring and training women lawyers and those who have helped women in their business development; and

• Give women attorneys equal opportunities and resources to participate in client development and networking activities.

All of the foregoing subjects and many other cutting-edge issues of importance to women lawyers will be discussed at the fourth Women in Law Leadership (WILL) Academy, to be held in Philadelphia at the Loews Hotel April 29 and 30. Panelists will include many of the country's most prominent women general counsel, corporate executives, judges and private practitioners. Registration information is available at www.abanet.org/women/will.html.

The day before the WILL Academy, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession will be convening a summit for women in-house counsel in Philadelphia. During that summit, leading women in-house counsel from the mid-Atlantic region will examine, among other things, the role that in-house counsel can play to help ensure that women at the law firms who handle their companies' legal work receive full credit for the business that they help generate.

To be sure, women lawyers have made great strides and have attained considerable success in the legal profession. However, although progress has been made, much work still remains to be done to achieve true equality in the areas of compensation and law firm leadership and power.

Through our collective efforts, we can and must continue to press law firms to modify their origination credit and compensation systems so that they fairly reflect the substantial achievements and contributions made by their women attorneys. •

Roberta D. Liebenberg is a partner at Fine Kaplan & Black and is the chair of the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. She can be contacted at rliebenberg@finekaplan.com.

Julia M. Rafferty is an associate at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young and is a member of the Women in Law Leadership Academy Committee. She can be contacted at jrafferty@stradley.com

Reprinted with permission from the April 20, 2010 edition of the Legal Intelligencer, 2010 ALM Media Properties, LLC. All rights reserved. Further duplication without permission is prohibited.