The Push for Equity

BARRIERS FOR FEMALE PARTNERS

55% Denied origination points

30% Bullied in origination credit disagreements

39% Dissatisfied with resolution of the dispute

Sources: ?Report of the Fourth Annual National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms,? October 2009, National Association of Women Lawyers and the NAWL Foundation; and ?A Survey of Women Partners on Law Firm Compensation,? April 2010, Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Project for Attorney Retention at UC Hastings College of the Law.

Last year, female equity partners at U.S. law firms made $499,000, on average, compared with the $565,000 their male counterparts earned. But a 2010 survey of nearly 700 women partners by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and UC Hastings College of the Law reveals the challenges women face in earning a spot among the inner circle to begin with. According to the respondents, 92 percent believe that revenue generation is the primary factor for earning a promotion to equity partner, but 55 percent reported having been denied a fair share of origination credits. When a dispute arose on the issue, nearly one-third said that they'd been pressured to back down and that they ended up dissatisfied by the dispute's resolution.

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