50 most influential women lawyers in America : Misses real story

The National Law Journal published their listing of the 50 Most Influential Women Lawyers in America. Congratulations to all but the Journal missed an opportunity to tell the real story.

Though I do not personally know of the women on the list I laud them all for the work and effort.

However, The bias against women in the legal profession is incredible. I practiced law for 17 years and saw and heard of some amazing things. There’s simply no question women work much harder than men to accomplish the same in our profession because of an institutional bias.

There’s a lot of self serving politically correct talk by law firms but here’s some facts:

• Only 14 percent of law firm partners in New York State are women, according to the National Directory of Legal Employers, an educational association of law schools and law firms.
• At firms of all sizes nationwide, women account for 17.6 percent of partners and 43.3 percent of associatesaccording to the National Association for Law Placement of Washington, D.C.

And women of color are flat out being driven out of our profession. From the California Bar Association report, “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms:

• Forty-four percent of women of color said they were denied desirable assignments, versus 2 percent of white men.
• Forty-three percent of women of color said they had limited access to client development opportunities, compared with 3 percent of white men.
• Nearly two-thirds of women of color said they were excluded from informal and formal networking opportunities, compared with 4 percent of white men.

The report’s conclusion:

Law firms exclude minority women from golf outings, after-hours drinks and other networking events, the study says. Partners neglect the women of color they are supposed to help mentor.

In some cases, partners and senior lawyers disregard minority women less because of outright bigotry than because they have less in common with them and thus don’t connect well with them, the study found.

Firms routinely hand minority women inferior assignments — such as reviewing documents or writing briefs — that provide little opportunity to meet clients, the study says. That means women of color aren’t able to cultivate business relationships and develop the “billable hours” that are the basis of career advancement within a firm.

Women of color in 50 most influential women lawyers in America? Appears to be one. Shocking.

Source on NJ’s 50 most influential women lawyers in America: Denise Howell