36 Workingmother.com | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019

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There is a fierce battle for talent underway in

U.S. law firms that could benefit women lawyers.

According to Citi Private Bank, starting in 2017,

law firms added more equity partners through

lateral hires than from internal promotions. Citi

called the phenomenon “a fundamental shift in

how firms plan to drive revenue growth in the

years ahead.” Because firms are competing to

recruit the best talent away from other firms,

employers should have stronger incentives than

ever to retain their most valued lawyers and to

discourage them from looking for greener pastures

at other firms or in-house.

At the same time, clients are demanding that

law firms staff their matters with more-diverse

teams. In January 2019, the general counsel and

chief legal officers of 170 companies published

an open letter to big law firms stating that their

companies will prioritize their legal spend on law

firms that commit to diversity and inclusion.

Since then, the group has continued its advocacy

for more diversity.

These factors have created a marketplace in

which successful women lawyers have more

bargaining power than ever before. In fact, we are

already seeing effects that prove the point. The

60 firms on the 2019 Working Mother Best Law

Firms for Women list averaged 37 percent women

among new equity partners, compared with only

27 percent women five years ago. The percentage

of women lawyers in the ranks of the Best Firms’

most highly compensated partners also jumped

from 11 percent in 2014 to 15 percent in 2019.

What do these developments

mean for women lawyers?

1. Women have more clout than in the past.
   The women who will benefit the most from the
   battle for talent will be the ones who are highly
   productive. Keith Wetmore, a managing director
   at recruiting giant Major, Lindsey & Africa and
   former chair of Morrison & Foerster, says women
   must make themselves “the lawyers who drive the
   economics of their firms.” He advises women to be
   wary about nonbillable time. “Don’t feel obliged to
   volunteer every time to chair the summer program
   or other committees,” Wetmore says.


2. Women might more readily change firms when

Women Lawyers

and the War for Talent

With more firms hiring from outside, many changes are afoot. By Karen Kaplowitz