8 Percent of Women lead US firms, according to the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). There are various assumptions to why this is percentage is so low. One such reason, is the fact that women, as well as men, do not wish to endure the hardships entailed with the position of Managing Partner. At times, the managing partner must do less lawyering to take on more managerial responsibility. Joel Henning, a consultant at Hildebrandt International, describes the role as being a type of “housekeeper”. Women are not willing to forgo their allowance to excel at what they love, to clean house at work. Another factor for having so few women high up on the ladder, is that it is was not too long ago that big law firms were hiring women in the first place. Jerry Clements, the woman leading the firm of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell, explains that when she graduated from law school in 1981, top law firms were just beginning to hire women. The rate of progress? In 2006, the number of women leaders was at a mere 5 percent.
Source: www.law.com