Laura Swihart (courtesy photo)
Today is International Women’s Day, and there’s no better time to celebrate the progress that women in the United States have made in the legal profession.
Over the course of the last 155 years, women in this country have achieved many important firsts as lawyers — in 1869, the first woman was admitted to the bar; in 1879, the first woman argued before the Supreme Court; in 1981, the first woman was confirmed to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court; in 2016, women made up the majority of law school classes for the first time on record (a trend that’s continued ever since); and in 2023, women made up the majority of law firm associates, for the first time ever.
Despite all of this progress, while women have made great strides at the law firm partnership level, they still make up just 27.76% of all partners, and only 27% of all law firm practice group leaders. What can be done to remedy this situation?
I recently had the pleasure of chatting with Laura Swihart, co-chair of Dechert’s global finance and real estate practice groups and a member of the firm’s policy committee, to get her thoughts on the matter. Here is a write-up of our important conversation on how Biglaw firms can get more women into partnership and into firm leadership.
Staci Zaretsky (SZ): What can law firms — and Biglaw firms in particular — do to better support and retain their female associates?
Laura Swihart (LS): I think that law firms, especially Biglaw firms, often focus on creating women’s support groups and mentoring programs, providing motivational programming, maternity and child care programs, and offering flexible and part-time work schedules to retain their female associates. Although these initiatives are excellent and very helpful, in the end, I believe that every employee wants to feel like they are a strategic, valued member of a dynamic, growing team. It isn’t all about the hours and the soft support. I think firms would be better served by making sure they are tracking the assignments and business development opportunities being given to the female associates from the start of their careers. Making sure that female associates are being staffed on the more high profile, exciting matters for the most strategic clients and invited to industry and client events is most important, in my opinion. I do not believe that female associates leave due to becoming mothers, because other women don’t support them, or because of the long hours. I believe that they often leave because they don’t feel that they are being given the opportunity to work for the best clients on the most interesting matters, which is the best path to promotion and partnership.
SZ: Law firm partnership skews heavily male. What, if anything, do you think needs to change so that more female associates will be able to ascend to their firms’ partnership?
LS: In addition to being staffed from early in their career on the more sophisticated matters and included on business development initiatives and at client events, as we discussed previously, to heighten the profile of the women in the firm, I think that firms need to encourage female associates to start thinking about partnership earlier in their careers. Dechert has a program for midlevel and senior female associates to help them plan for partnership. Both male and female partners at the firm, including those in management, are active in the program. We work with the female associates to determine what specialties they might be interested in, find industry groups and speaking and writing opportunities in that area for them, and develop a detailed business plan and client target list. We also provide professional coaching opportunities. I only realized late in my career that almost all of the firm leaders I have had the pleasure to work with, both men and women, have worked with a professional coach to hone their business, management, writing, and public speaking skills. Those who have gone through the program have provided extremely positive feedback and many are now partners.
SZ: Despite a great deal of progress, women still aren’t as well represented in law firm leadership. How can law firms make sure that women are better represented among their leaders?
LS: I think if firms implement some of these initiatives, there will be more and more women in the ranks of law firm leadership over time. In the meantime, it’s crucial for Biglaw firms to actively promote women into leadership roles for their management committees, practice group leaders, and office head roles. This approach not only fosters diversity and inclusion but also serves as a powerful retention tool. Studies show that junior female attorneys are more likely to stay and aspire to leadership roles when they see women achieving such positions in their organization. By actively promoting women into leadership roles, firms can inspire their female attorneys and demonstrate their commitment to gender equality.
On behalf of everyone here at Above the Law, we’d like to thank Laura Swihart of Dechert for taking the time to help answer some pressing questions on how Biglaw firms can better assist with helping women advance in the practice of law.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.