The number of gender bias law suits and gender bias complaints against law firms is on the rise, based on this article in AmLaw Daily, which quotes David Sanford, the chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp, who represents most of the plaintiffs in the current lawsuits. Sanford also has represented countless other women lawyers in complaints against their law firms based on unequal opportunities and unequal pay as compared to their male colleagues.
Most of you probably have read at least something about the current law suits, but there is more that may come as a surprise to you. What you may not know is that the higher you climb in a law firm, the more likely you are to encounter gender bias. Just because you are experiencing what you believe is equal treatment as an associate or a non-equity partner, you should not be lulled into a state of complacency. Here is how it is described in the article:
“When it comes to large law firms, gender disparities tend to heighten as lawyers move up the ranks. Although [Sanford] has seen instances of woman associates receiving lower bonuses than men, the lockstep approach that most firms use to set the base salaries for associates can put a check on differences in pay at that level. But higher up the chain, employment conditions for lawyers often depend heavily on decisions made at the top of the firm. Firm leaders, for instance, decide whether to make a particular lawyer a partner. And they have control over compensation, deciding how bonuses are administered or which partners receive credit for originating a matter.“
“We see the differences arise at those key moments of discretionary authority,” Sanford said. “And that discretion is typically administered by males.“
This is a major focus of Best Friends at the Bar, and I address these issues in my programs on effective leadership for women lawyers at law firms, law schools and law organizations throughout the country. Appropriate use of the “discretionary authority” that Sanford talks about is a key component of effective leadership in law firms. My writing and speaking on these subjects, including in my book, Best Friends at the Bar: Top-Down Leadership for Women Lawyers (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business/Aspen Publishers, 2015), is full of examples of leadership behavior that screams implicit gender bias — and often comes as a big surprise to the male lawyers in the audiences. In fact, after they acknowledge how “clueless” they are about the impact of this negative behavior, those lawyers begin to ask for more advice on how to turn negative behavior into positive leadership for the benefit of women lawyers and the firm.
That is when the real progress happens, and I love being a part of the transformation.
Does your law firm need this kind of candid discussion about gender bias? Or do the leaders in your law firm want to remain clueless and vulnerable? Do they want to continue to lose talent due to disregard and the convenience of complacency or do they want to take responsibility and become the effective leaders they can be?
Contact me to get your firm on the road to recovery from gender bias. You will be glad you did.
