Moving out of the shadows

Women lawyers are increasingly visible at law firms across India. But have they succeeded in breaking through the glass ceiling?

Swati Maheshwari investigates

The biggest and best-known law firms in the West are grappling with a wide gender gap among their more senior lawyers. Although women make up roughly half the number of students who go to law school and subsequently join law firms, they drop out in significant numbers on their way up from associate to partner – a climb that takes eight to 10 years.

Cause for concern

The numbers speak for themselves. A report in American Lawyer points out that in 2010, only 17% of partners were women in the top 50 law firms in the US. A study in Catalyst in January, on what it terms the gender gap in law at American law firms, found that 11% of the largest law firms had no woman on their governing bodies.

The picture is as bleak in the UK. An article in The Guardian reported that while women have made up approximately half of those entering big City law firms for well over a decade – they accounted for about 60% of the trainee intake in 2010 – just 18% of partners in these firms are female.

This shows that despite magic circle firms putting in place pro-diversity initiatives such as flexi hours, most women are unable to break through the glass ceiling at Western law firms. These firms largely remain old boys’ clubs.