Percentage of Women Partners in Law Firms Continues to Rise

The ABA Journal has reported that Miller Nash, a Portland, Oregon firm, recently named seven new partners, all of whom are women.  See the ABA Journal article here and the firm's press release here.

According to a recent press release from the National Association for Law Placement, Inc. (NALP), representation by women at the partner level in law firms rose in 2013, and has gradually increased since the organization began compiling data in the 1990s.  However, the percentage of women at the associate level has declined each year since 2010.  According to the NALP press release, the "net result is very small net gains in the representation of women."

If you are interested in further information about women's status in the legal profession, the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession maintains a webpage containing links to numerous articles, reports, research studies, and initiatives, organized by topic.  Topics vary from Advancement, Retention and Attrition to Compensation, Work/Life Balance, Networking, and more.

The McKusick Law Library also has print and electronic resources available regarding women in the legal profession. The following books, among others, are available in our collection:

The Unfinished Agenda: Women and the Legal Profession / American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession

Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law / by Lauren Stiller Rikleen

Databook on Women in Law School and in the Legal Profession / Law School Admission Council; editors-in-chief Gita Z. Wilder and Bruce Weingartner

Students and faculty with access to HeinOnline may also want to explore issues of the Women Lawyers Journal, a publication of the National Association of Women Lawyers, available in the Law Journal Library.