Communities Event Looks at Strategies for Retaining and Advancing Women in the Law
November 16, 2021
Although women have outnumbered men in law school enrollment for much of the past decade, many law firms continue to have significant gender imbalances in their most powerful and highest-compensated roles.
This continuing gender disparity was the focus of the D.C. Bar Law Practice Management Community’s November 10 panel discussion “Elevating Women in Law,” led by Katie Lipp, a business coach and founder of The Lipp Law Firm, PC. Lipp identified the two biggest problems women attorneys face — lack of equal career advancement opportunities and higher attrition rates than men — and what actions firms can undertake to address them.
Lipp offered five strategies that have become increasingly popular in recent years: the fostering of female lawyer referral networks, coaching and mentoring programs, adoption of alternative billing models, flexible work schedules with opportunities for remote work, and amplification of accomplishment by female attorneys. Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach, Lipp said these suggestions could be modified to meet individual needs.
The strategies themselves reflect Lipp’s understanding of law firm power politics. “If you look at law firm hierarchy, who is at the top of most law firms?” Lipp asked. “It’s the rainmakers. It’s the people who are bringing in business. Anyone who has a book of business has a significant amount of power within a law firm.” For this reason, many of the proposed solutions to help retain and advance women involve guidance and assistance in business development.
Addressing each of the practical strategies, Lipp discussed how law firms could help female associates strengthen their book of business and develop the confidence to excel. Lipp also said that businesses might benefit from a reordering of the legal industry’s traditional view of service, which puts the firm first, clients second, and employees last.
Several of the recommendations involved actions that women could undertake together for their mutual benefit. Lipp suggested that women could help their collective advancement through referral networks and by making professional recommendations for each other on search engines and social networks.
Following the presentation, Lipp was asked about interviewing women, to which she offered some observations. First, she recounted personal experiences when interviewers assumed that she intended to have additional children, leading to extensive discussion of maternity leave policies that had no relevance to her outlook on the firm. Interviewers should avoid such a discussion, Lipp said.
She also advised against slipping into informal banter during interviews. “You just want to remember that you are putting forth the image of your brand. You want to keep it more formal and respectful, not like you are chatting with a friend,” she said.
In addition, Lipp said that the strategies could be useful for legal employers in crafting job postings that draw women applicants. Clearly indicating the availability of flexible work schedules and environments, as well as the provision of mentoring and career development, could help ensure that qualified female candidates present themselves, she said.
