Women as Lawyers and Leaders
The Practice
May/June 2015
American women have made significant inroads in law. Still, the legal profession has more work to do if women are to gain equal representation across the field.
May/June 2015
Women as Lawyers and Leaders
The history of women in the legal profession offers a unique vantage point from which to view the progress of women in society, both in the United States and worldwide. The legal profession is one of the most powerful, well remunerated, and respected in the world. Thus, women’s progress in the law is both a standard bearer and an emblem of progress in many cultures. The law plays a foundational role to higher levels of leadership overall.
Women and Professional Development
During the 1980s and 90s, as firms grew rapidly, they shifted from an apprenticeship model to a leveraged model of talent development. In this article, we explore ideas from Harvard faculty and other experts on professional development and reducing attrition for women and minorities in the law.
The Power of Role Models
Conditions for women of color and minorities in the legal profession are hardly promising. According to “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Fortune 500 Legal Departments,” a 2012 study from the American Bar Association (ABA), women of color in particular “bear the brunt of dual minority status in significant ways.”
Retaining Talented Women
Deborah Holmes, Americas director of corporate responsibility at Ernst & Young (EY), has unique insight into issues facing women in the legal profession. In a recent conversation with The Practice, Holmes summarized the key lessons she’s learned running EY’s initiative to retain women at the large professional services firm. Her work at EY will form the basis of a future case study.
15 Tips for Women in the Profession
How can women maximize their options in the legal profession? Elizabeth “Betsy” Munnell (HLS ‘79) is a former rainmaker for the Boston firm Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, where she helped build the firm’s media and communications finance practice. In this article, Munnell, Sandra Yamate (HLS ‘84), Nancy Gertner, Amy Schulman, and other women share their expertise.
Fostering Flexibility in Law Firms; Satisfaction in the Legal Profession
At Geller the partners, while still well compensated, make less than they would at a traditional law firm. However, they have greater freedom over their schedule and fewer hours. The firm has no office, instead renting a shared space when the lawyers need it. This means that women partners with children do not feel they have to sneak out of their office for their children’s doctors’ appointments or recitals since they are out of their office.
Lessons on Life and Leadership
Overall, when we asked respondents to rate the importance of nine career and life dimensions, nearly 100 percent of Harvard Business School alumni—across the two generations and regardless of gender—said that “quality of personal and family relationships” was “very” or “extremely” important, says Robin Ely, the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community at Harvard Business School.
