The legal profession has a mathematics problem. Women now constitute the majority of law school graduates, comprise over half of associates at major firms, and represent 47% of all lawyers globally.
Yet when the elevator reaches the executive floor, the numbers tell a different story: just two in ten law firm leaders are women (although when they do reach the top women legal leaders are making a difference).
The latest research from the International Bar Association's Raising the Bar: Women in Law project confirms what many practitioners have long suspected – the profession is experiencing a spectacular leakage of female talent somewhere between the mid-career mark and the managing partner's office.
The Numbers That Should Keep Managing Partners Awake
The IBA's December 2024 Progress Report, synthesizing data from 11 countries across five continents, reveals the uncomfortable arithmetic:
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