Last week, thanks to the recently released National Law Journal 500 ranking, we found out which U.S.-centric Biglaw firms were the biggest of them all in terms of headcount. Now, as a new companion piece to the American Lawyer’s Diversity Scorecard, we’ll now delve into the Women’s Scorecard, a ranking of the percentages of women attorneys overall, and in partnership and leadership ranks, at the largest firms in the country.
For the purposes of this ranking, equity and nonequity partners were counted as partners, with staffing counts based on a firm’s average number of full-time equivalent attorneys in 2023. Temporary and contract attorneys aren’t included in the count. For a tie, the higher rank is awarded to the firm with more female equity partners.
As noted by the American Lawyer, growth for women in law firms in 2023 was “sluggish” at best compared to recent years’ progress:
This year’s data, based on full-year 2023 headcounts and aggregated from 247 firms, showed a strengthening correlation between firms that had higher percentages of women associates and firms with higher percentages of women equity partners, as more firms take the time to invest in training and retaining women attorneys.
Despite this dynamic, ALM’s aggregate data showed sluggish growth overall in firms’ female attorney population. Looking at the gender breakdown of approximately 152,776 total attorneys, women made up 40.2% of the attorney population, a 0.6% increase year over year.
Breaking down the data further, women made up 27.9% of all partners, 50.2% of all associates, and 42.1% of all “other” categories of attorneys, demonstrating “significant leaks from the talent pipeline,” according to American Bar Association researcher and Fine, Kaplan and Black member Roberta Liebenberg.
Without further ado, here is the Women’s Scorecard Top 10 for 2024:
- Berry Appleman & Leiden
- Fragomen
- Kubicki Draper
- Cole Scott & Kissane
- Kaufman Borgeest & Ryan
- Littler
- Kelley Kronenberg
- Wood Smith Henning & Berman
- Day Pitney
- Shipman & Goodwin
You may be wondering where the largest, namebrand Biglaw firms appear on this list. While the majority of the top 30 firms on the scorecard have a headcount of about 300 or less, there were some exceptions, with Fragomen, Littler, Ogletree, Jackson Lewis, Cooley, Wilson Elser, Gordon Rees, Davis Wright Tremaine, and Willkie Farr all making an appearance.
Congratulations to all of the firms that succeeded in boosting their ranks in this year’s Women’s Scorecard by placing women in leadership roles and fostering a pipeline of female and diverse attorneys.
You can check out the rest of the rankings here.
The 2024 Diversity Scorecard: Women’s Scorecard [American Lawyer]
Amid Sluggish Growth and ‘Significant Leaks’ in the Pipeline, Top Firms Invest in Women Associates and Partners Alike [American Lawyer]
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
