Women Criminal Defense Attorneys: Progress and Setbacks for Women in Law

Let’s start with the good news! Just this month, two women joined the ranks of a small but growing number of female law firm leaders as two large law firms named women as their chairs for the first time in their history. Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP just announced that litigator Jami Wintz McKeon will become the first woman chair of the firm, and Bryan Cave LLP announced that Therese Pritchard will become their firm’s first female chair. Pritchard, one of our own, is a white-collar litigator. She was quoted as saying “I think the playing field is leveling out, and I think firms can select leaders from a more diverse talent pool than ever before,” and “I do remember the days when I was for the most part the only woman in the room.” Other women heading big law firms include Kim Koopersmith of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Jerry K. Clements at Locke Lord LLP.

This is just because I love the quote: A partner at Dechert, Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, who is married to the United Kingdom’s deputy prime minister was recently quoted as saying “I am being asked all the time ‘Do you want to have it all,’ and I don’t want to have it all – I want to have what men have” she told the BBC, “So if many men have children and a job, and that’s what they choose, I do not know why I cannot have that, if that’s what I choose.”

And now, some alarming facts: The Careerist reported last month that Women Lawyers are Falling Behind in Client Development More Than Ever. This slap-in-the-face statement comes from statistics generated by the Major, Lindsey & Africa’s 2014 Partner Compensation Survey which reports that male partners reported average originations of $2.9 million in 2014, an 8 percent increase over 2012, while female partners reported average originations of $1.24 million in 2014, which was a 12 percent decline. The spread between male and female originations is now 77%, a significantly higher spread than the 50% in 2010 and 44% percent in 2012. Vivian Chen notes that this gap is especially alarming considering the existing gap in compensation ($779,000 for men versus $531,000 for women) and predicted that in combination that this “means that women are unlikely to achieve pay and power equity anytime soon. If ever.”

So what is the takeaway from these developments? First, that the need for the continued conversation is real. Second, the conversation is evolving, and so are we, as we strive to understand and find our unique path to success as women lawyers. And, finally, that one of the critical building blocks to barriers being broken and ceilings being smashed wide open is that we reach a critical mass of women in positions of leadership.