High hurdles for equality: Hardly any female partners in large law firms

Women are no longer a rarity in the executive suites of DAX-listed companies. Last year, the proportion of women in the largest listed companies rose above the 25 percent mark for the first time. Women are significantly rarer at the top of large law firms: In the 20 highest-revenue law firms in Germany, their share at partner level averages only 16 percent, despite various support initiatives. This is the finding of a recent study by the Allbright Foundation, which is committed to the issue of equality.

Women have been in the majority among law students for almost 20 years. According to the Federal Statistical Office, more young female lawyers (58 percent) pass the second state law examination than their male colleagues during their legal traineeship. While slightly fewer women than men choose a career in a large law firm upon entry, they are well aware that in this type of firm, their private life often suffers greatly due to the demanding workload, which often involves evenings and weekends, the gender ratio is still fairly balanced at the beginning of a career as a business lawyer.

At the lowest career level in large law firms, i.e., among salaried lawyers ("associates"), the proportion of women is still 47 percent. Those who prove themselves can advance to "senior associate" after a few years, which is usually the prerequisite for further career levels such as "salary partner" or "counsel." In both of these positions, the now experienced lawyers are not yet partners in the firm; however, they can sometimes be viewed as a precursor to or alternative to full partnership. The proportion of women in these positions is significantly lower: at the counsel level, it is 39 percent, and for salary partners, 34 percent. When climbing the top step of the career ladder, with appointment to partner—that is, partnership with profit sharing—the proportion of women drops significantly to 16 percent.

According to the study authors, the fact that so many women drop out on their way to the top is primarily due to the industry's typical work culture, and in particular, the working hours. The performance of lawyers in large law firms is typically measured by the number of "billable hours," i.e., the hours of work that can be directly invoiced to a client. Depending on the firm's management, candidates for partnership are expected to work between 1,500 and well over 2,000 such hours per year. The actual working hours, of course, are higher, due to the many non-billable activities such as continuing education, presentations, or business lunches.

According to the study, candidates who are promoted are primarily those with a particularly high number of billable hours – and are therefore considered high-performing and resilient. "Because women are less likely to have a partner at their side who balances their constant professional commitment with family responsibilities, large law firms with this work culture lose more women than men," the study states. Indeed, in recent years, women have often moved to smaller firms with less pressure and lower salaries as associates. Others enter the public sector or become in-house lawyers in the legal departments of companies, foundations, and associations.

The study thus confirms the findings of an empirical study by Matthias Kilian, a law professor from Cologne and long-time director of the Soldan Institute there. The survey of 1,600 lawyers from across Germany, conducted a few years ago, revealed significant gender differences in the assumption of family and caregiving responsibilities: According to the study, female lawyers, regardless of firm size, take on childcare and caregiving responsibilities significantly more often than their male colleagues. They perform a significantly larger share of unpaid family and caregiving work, which, in turn, negatively impacts their career and income development, Kilian concluded.

In addition to work culture, a second point plays an important role in the current study by the Allbright Foundation: unlike stock corporations, where the management board is overseen by a supervisory board, law firms do not have such a supervisory body. In most DAX-listed companies, the supervisory board sets the targets for the proportion of women at management levels below the management board. In large law firms, however, the established partners have "unrestricted decision-making power" when it comes to promoting younger partners to partner status, the study authors emphasize. The outcome of the partner selection process is often very homogeneous because, for psychological reasons, the established partners instinctively choose people who are similar to themselves.

Almost 35 years after reunification, striking patterns are emerging among the 20 most influential law firms in the country: 97 percent of partners studied in West Germany (including Berlin), and a strikingly high proportion (70 percent) also hold doctorates, the study states. However, it is striking that contradictory results are emerging in the law firm markets of other countries. The study examined major international law firms and found significant differences between their locations, for example, in Germany and Great Britain. At the British locations, the proportion of women at partner level was almost twice as high as at the German locations.