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The Commission on Women in the Profession

ChairPamela J. Roberts

MembersAmelia H. Boss Arin N. ReevesPaulette Brown Lauren Stiller Rikleen

Jana Howard Carey Gloria E. SotoBettina Lawton Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong

Raymond L. Ocampo, Jr. Robert N. WeinerAngela E. Oh

Board of Governors LiaisonDon S. De Amicis

Commission LiaisonsLeslie M. Altman Kim R. Jessum

Linda A. Baumann Linda A. KleinPhyllis G. Bossin Renee M. Landers

N. Kay Bridger-Riley Anne LukingbealKristy A.N. Bulleit Kathleen M. McDowell

Hon. Cheryl Cesario Anita Podell MillerJamir Couch Judith A. Miller

Pamela Chapman Enslen Hon. Susan M. MoiseevMary Chojnowski Jean Moyer

Peggy A. Davis Jean PawlowAnne E. Dewey-Balzhiser Aileen A. Pisciotta

Leslie A. Farber Estelle H. RogersSally Foley Lynn Hecht Schafran

Marcia D. Greenberger Jana SingerPhoebe Haddon Patricia Costello SlovakNancy Hoffman Patricia M. Vaughan

Kathleen J. Hopkins Lish WhitsonHeather D. Jefferson Patricia H. Wittie

Marylee Jenkins

StaffVeronica M. Muñoz

Staff Director

Tamara Edmonds Askew Julia GillespiePrograms & Projects Manager Special Projects Coordinator

Barbara Leff Jennifer GibbCommunications & Publications Manager Projects & Meeting Assistant

American Bar AssociationCommission on Women in the Profession

321 North Clark StreetChicago, IL 60610

Phone: 312/988-5715Fax: 312/988-5790

Web Site: www.abanet.org/women

©2006 American Bar Association, all rights reserved. The views expressed herein have not been approved by the House of Delegates or the Board ofGovernors of the American Bar Association and, accordingly, should not be construed as representing the policy of the American Bar Association.

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Women of Color Research Initiative Advisory Board

Marc Bendick, Jr., Ph.D.

Paulette Brown, Project Co-Chair

Kimberlè Williams Crenshaw

J. Cunyon Gordon

Rosita Lopez Marcano, Ph.D.

Peggy Nagae

Angela E. Oh

Nashra Rahman

Radhika Rao

Arin N. Reeves, Ph.D., Project Co-Chair

Judith Resnik

Veta Richardson

Joyce Sterling, Ph.D.

Sheila Thomas

Suzanne Townsend

David Wilkins

Angela F. Williams

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Contributors The ABA Commission on Women in the Profession thanks the following for their financial grants and contributions, which made this research initiative possible:

$75,000 + Ford Foundation (Grant) $50,000 - $74,999 Paul Hastings $25,000 - $49,999 Levi Strauss (Grant) $10,000 - $24,999 American Bar Association Section of Litigation Baker Botts L.L.P. Foley & Lardner LLP Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Shell Oil Company $5,000 - $9,999 Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson P.A. Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall, P.C. Latham & Watkins LLP O’Melveny & Myers LLP Vinson & Elkins LLP $2,500 - $4,999 American Bar Association Section of Antitrust Law Blank Rome LLP CDW Corporation Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C. Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, P.C. Howrey LLP Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP McGlinchey Stafford PLLC Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP Morrison & Foerster LLP Pepper Hamilton LLP Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP State Bar of California Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen LLP

$1,500 - $2,499 Abrams Scott & Bickley, L.L.P. Arnold & Porter LLP Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P. Brown Sims P.C. Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Martin Connelly Baker Maston Wotring Jackson LLP ConocoPhillips Company Cozen O’Connor Duane Morris LLP Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC Fox Rothschild LLP Haynes and Boone, LLP Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin Marshall & Lewis, LLP McCarter & English, LLP Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, LLP Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Reliant Resources Foundation Saul Ewing LLP Seyfarth Shaw LLP Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP Willig, Williams & Davidson Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. Winston & Strawn LLP Waste Management, Inc. Host Firms Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP Southern California Edison Despite our best efforts, we inadvertently may misspell or omit a name. We sincerely regret any such errors and greatly appreciate being informed of them so that we can correct our records. To report any mistakes or oversights, please contact the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession at 312-988-5715.

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Most private firm business models continue toadhere to the “pay your dues and climb theladder” tradition. Regardless of how accom-

plished a woman may be, shecannot climb—much lessreach the top of—the leader-ship ladder unless she spendsa certain amount of years in herwork environment. Nowhere isthis more painfully obviousthan with women of color inlaw firms.

Women of color experi-ence a double whammy of gen-der and race, unlike whitewomen or even men of colorwho share at least one of these characteristics (gender orrace) with those in the upper strata of management. Womenof color may face exclusion from informal networks, in-adequate institutional support, and challenges to their au-thority and credibility. They often feel isolated and alien-ated, sometimes even from other women.

Previous research focused specifically on eitherwomen or on people of color in the legal profession. Rec-ognizing the need for a comprehensive analysis of theunique concerns and experiences of Hispanic, African-American, Native American, and Asian-American womenin the legal profession, in 2004 the Commission on Womenin the Profession undertook a two-part research study,composed of a national survey and focus groups.

The study explores the experiences of women of colorwho had worked in a law firm of at least 25 attorneys,and it attempts to answers such critical questions as: Whatattracts women of color to the legal profession? Do theirwork experiences surpass or fall short of expectations?How do legal employers hinderor increase job satisfaction?Why do women attorneys ofcolor change practice areas andorganizations, or leave the pro-fession at an alarming rate?

The report is not an endunto itself. It is a tool for lawfirm managing partners toimplement change so that theyretain women of color and en-able these women to join theranks of leadership. Women ofcolor must be visible at all lev-els within private firms. If thelegal profession is to move for-ward and reach its full poten-tial, then it must reflect the diversity of society. Any-thing less is unacceptable.

Pamela J. RobertsChairABA Commission on Women in the Profession

VISIBLE INVISIBILITY:WOMEN OF COLOR IN LAW FIRMS

A NOTE FROM THE CHAIR

The report is . . . atool for law firmmanaging partnersto implementchange so that theyretain women ofcolor and enablethese women to jointhe ranks of leader-ship.

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Law firms in recent years have appropriately ex-panded the scope of their diversity efforts fromrecruiting to also focus on retention and advance-

ment of lawyers of color and women. On the surface, itseems like we are headed in the right direction—that is,until we take a closer look atone particular group of lawyerslocated at the intersection ofrace and gender: women ofcolor.

The experiences, chal-lenges, and career trajectoriesof women of color have neverbeen fully understood beforeby just looking at either raceor gender. Until the Commis-sion on Women undertook thisstudy, women of color in lawfirms have been consistently invisible and often ignoredin spite of many of the diversity efforts under way in lawfirms. Our progress on diversity generally has been slow,but our progress with women of color has been evenslower. What the findings of this study really demonstrateis that the combination of being a racial and a gender mi-nority has a particularly devastating effect on women ofcolor’s personal and professional lives, and we, as a pro-fession, have to step up to understand this situation betterand do something about it. Across the board—whetherwe are talking about opportunities for advancement, inte-gration into the social fabric of a law firm, or being com-pensated for one’s efforts—the study’s findings illustratethat women of color fare worse than women in general ormen of color. And, women of color are the farthest re-moved from the successes of white men, who still tend tohave the greatest levels of success regardless of where theywent to school or their grades in law school. As law firmsseek to become more competitive by having the best and

brightest of the available talent, they have to have an un-derstanding of the talent drain that is occurring in theirwomen of color ranks. It is truly time to make thesewomen visible again so that their talents can contribute tothe growth and prosperity in our profession.

Before undertaking thisstudy, we knew generally whatwe were going to find, but thedepth to which women of colorare experiencing and beingnegatively impacted by theirexperiences in law firms wasnot only surprising, it was ajarring wake-up call even tothose of us who deal with thisissue in our own lives. We arenot just losing talent; we aretreating talented people inways that do not speak well of our profession or the val-ues that undergird it.

It is the intent of this study to serve as the first step ina very long conversation about these issues. For the pur-poses of creating a research studythat was manageable in scope,we limited it to women of colorin law firms. The issues forwomen of color lawyers obvi-ously are not limited to just lawfirms. Women of color in thepublic sector, in solo practice,and in corporations also need tohave their concerns brought tolight and addressed. So, we dorecognize the limits of what thisstudy accomplishes, and we hopethat it spurs further conversationand action. In addition, we hope

VISIBLE INVISIBILITY:WOMEN OF COLOR IN LAW FIRMS

INTRODUCTION

Arin ReevesPaulette Brown

Women of color inthe public sector,in solo practice,and incorporations alsoneed to have theirconcerns broughtto light andaddressed.

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that this research is used by law firms to take a hard lookat their practices. We have included recommendations thatwe believe will help law firms create the changes neces-sary to include women of color in their ranks of success-ful lawyers.

It has been our pleasure to work on this project, andwe offer our deepest gratitude to all the voices and handsthat have shepherded this project thus far. From the cur-rent and former Commissioners of the Commission onWomen who gave so generously of their time and passion

to the Commission on Women staff who have kept thisproject on track, this report is the result of true commit-ment and hard work of many brave souls. We would alsolike to thank the Advisory Board, which provided invalu-able guidance throughout this project, and the numeroussponsors who provided the much-needed financial re-sources critical to its completion.

Paulette BrownArin N. Reeves, Ph.D.Project Co-Chairs

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In 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American woman admitted to the bar in the UnitedStates. Despite her renowned legal abilities, she had

to give up the practice of law because, as a woman ofcolor, she could not attract sufficient clients to stay in busi-ness. The legal profession has changed dramatically sinceMs. Ray practiced law, although many of the challengesshe faced then still confront us today. Almost half of theassociates in private law firms are now women and 15%are attorneys of color, but in 2004 only 17% of law part-ners were women and only 4% were attorneys of color. Inthe late 1990s, the National Association of Law Place-ment (NALP) found that more than 75% of minority fe-male associates had left their jobs in private law firmswithin five years of being hired, and after eight years thepercentage of those leaving rose to 86%. By 2005, 81% ofminority female associates had left their law firms withinfive years of being hired.

Unfortunately, the NALP data tell us only part of a com-plex story. This report on the ABA Commission on Women’sWomen of Color Research Initiative goes beyond the NALPdata to further our understanding of the professional livesof women of color and their experiences in law firms. It isan outgrowth of work done in the 1990s by the MulticulturalWomen Attorneys Network and the American Bar Associa-tion (ABA) Commission on Women in the Profession, inconjunction with the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Di-versity. In that report, The Burdens of Both, The Privilegesof Neither, women attorneys of color described the ways inwhich the combination of being an attorney of color and awoman was a double negative in the legal marketplace. Thisled the ABA Commission on Women to launch its “Womenof Color in the Legal Profession Research Initiative” in 2003,a comprehensive study of the unique experiences and con-cerns of women of color in private law firms that includeda national survey and focus groups.

This report represents the culmination of that study.In the survey component, male and female lawyers frommajority and minority backgrounds were asked about theircareer experiences, salaries, and decisions to stay in lawfirms or to leave for other milieus. The responses of womenof color were compared to those of white men, whitewomen, and men of color to determine how their careersdiffered from those of their peers and the magnitude ofthose differences. Men of color and white women servedas a frame of reference, indicative of the career impact ofhaving one minority status instead of two. The nationalsurvey included men and women of color who were Afri-can-American, Native American, Hispanic/Latina, Asian,or of mixed background. The focus groups, comprised onlyof women of color, provided a more detailed picture ofthe career experiences of women attorneys of color andan opportunity to understand from their perspective howand why their career experiences differed from their coun-terparts. Information from the survey and focus groupswere melded into a complete portrait of the career dy-namics of women attorneys of color.

The ABA Commission on Women engaged the NationalOpinion Research Center, a social science research organi-zation at the University of Chicago, to design and imple-ment the survey and focus group methodology used in thisstudy. Overall, 920, or 72% of all attorneys who were eli-gible to participate in the survey, returned a completed ques-tionnaire. The response rate was 74% for women attorneysof color, 68% for men of color, 79% for white women, and64% for white men. Focus groups were held in Chicago,New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Washington, D.C.Four focus groups were comprised of women attorneys ofcolor from the same racial/ethnic background; one hadwomen of color from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds.

The career experiences of women of color in thisstudy differed dramatically from those of their peers and

VISIBLE INVISIBILITY:WOMEN OF COLOR IN LAW FIRMS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

10

from white male counterparts in particular. Nearly half ofwomen of color but only 3% of white men experienceddemeaning comments or harassment. Unlike white men,many women of color felt that they had to disprove negativepreconceived notions about their legal abilities and their com-mitment to their careers. Seventy-two percent of women ofcolor but only 9% of white men thought others doubted theircareer commitment after they had (or adopted) children.

Nearly two-thirds of the women of color but only 4%of white men were excluded from informal and formal net-working opportunities, marginalized and peripheral to pro-fessional networks within the firm. They felt lonely anddeprived of colleagues with whom they could share impor-tant career-related information. Women of color had men-tors, but their mentors did not ensure that they were inte-grated into the firm’s internal networks, received desirableassignments (especially those that helped them meet re-quired billable hours) or had substantive contacts with cli-ents. Sixty-seven percent of women of color wanted moreand/or better mentoring by senior attorneys and partners,whereas only 32% of white men expressed a similar need.

Women of color often became stuck in dead-end as-signments, so that as third- and fourth-year associates, theirexperience lagged behind their white male counterparts, lim-iting their advancement potential and career trajectories.

Forty-four percent of women of colorbut only 2% of white men reportedhaving been denied desirable assign-ments. Differential assignments, inturn, affected the ability of women ofcolor to meet the number of billablehours required of them. Forty-six per-cent of women of color but 58% ofwhite men were able to meet requiredbillable hours.

Forty-three percent of women ofcolor but only 3% of white men had limited access to clientdevelopment opportunities. Women of color stated that theymet with clients only when their race or gender would beadvantageous to the firm; they frequently were not given asubstantive role in those meetings. This kept them fromdeveloping business contacts that they could use to developa book of clients or as resources for finding subsequentpositions.

Nearly one-third of women of color but less than 1%of white men felt they received unfair performance evalua-

tions. Sometimes their accomplishments were ignoredby the firm or were not as highly rewarded as those oftheir peers; sometimes their mistakes were exaggerated.Many women of color complained that they received “softevaluations” which denied them the opportunity to cor-rect deficits and gain experiences that could lead to pro-motions and partnership. Twenty percent of women ofcolor but only 1% of white men felt they were deniedpromotion opportunities.

Salary was a high priority for women of color in thestudy; more than 70% were the sole or primary wageearner in their household—as were 81% of white men.Salary differences between majority and minority attor-neys were not statistically significant, but attorneys ofcolor made less money than their white counterparts.

In addition to these career hurdles, women of colorin the survey and focus groups felt they could not “bethemselves”; they downplayed and homogenized theirgender and racial/ethnic identities. Some tried to act likethe men in their firms, become “one of the boys”; othersplayed down their femininity and tried to “mannify”themselves. The effort to minimize the impact of theirphysical differences was stressful to many women ofcolor, an added burden to the long hours and hard workdemanded by their firm. Many complained that they of-ten felt invisible or mistaken for persons of lower status:secretaries, court reporters, paralegals.

The stress of second-class citizenship in law firmsled many women of color to reconsider their career goals.The retention rates of women of color and white menreflected their lopsided experiences: 53% of women ofcolor and 72% of white men chose to remain in law firms.Many women of color left firms to work in settings (es-pecially corporations) that were lucrative, where theythought others’ decisions about their careers would beless idiosyncratic, based more on merit, and where theyhad more flexibility to balance personal life, family, andwork.

The careers of white women attorneys and men at-torneys of color were neither as disadvantaged as thoseof women attorneys of color nor as privileged as thoseof white men. Fewer men attorneys of color indicatedthat discrimination had hobbled their careers comparedto white women. However, white women, on average,had higher salaries than men of color (but the differenceswere not statistically significant). Men attorneys of color

Women of colorstated that theymet with clientsonly when theirrace or genderwould beadvantageous tothe firm.

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and white women had similar perceptions of how they feltothers judged their competencies, their desire for more andbetter mentors, their rates of being selected as protégés bywhite men, and their desire to become partners in law firms.However, their retention rates were very different: 67% ofwhite women but only 52% of men of color chose toremain in law firms.

Charlotte Ray would surely look at the number ofwomen of color in the legal profession today and seehow far the profession has come since she practiced lawover a century ago. But, after taking a closer look at theexperiences of women of color in the profession shemight wonder just how much progress has been madeafter all.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the research from the focus groups and the sur-vey, the ABA Commission on Women proposes the fol-lowing recommendations for law firms that we think willbe of use to you as you work on integrating women ofcolor fully into your diversity efforts. Because every firmis different, we recommend that you take the followingsuggestions and make them your own to ensure the great-est success. This list of suggestions is also not intendedto be exclusive of other strategies that may be successfuland necessary in getting your firm to address these is-sues in a way that works best for you. We encourage youto be inclusive, creative, and diligent in creating and sus-taining diversity and professional development strategiesthat foster the successful careers of women of color.

Before you utilize the recommendations presentedbelow, first assess the totality of your diversity initia-tives and whether women of color are integrated intothose initiatives. If your firm already has a thriving di-versity initiative that has been integrated into the over-all business strategic plan, make sure that women ofcolor are fully integrated into that effort. This studyclearly evidences that if women of color are not viewed

as separate from women in general or people of colorin general, your ability to recruit, retain, and advancethem is impaired. When women of color are acknowl-edged as a unique group with unique needs within yourlarger diversity and professional development efforts,you are more likely to see the kinds of successes thatwe all know are possible. If your firm does not alreadyhave a diversity initiative, then ensure the integrationof women of color as the initiative is being developedand implemented.

NOTE: These recommendations are based on theresearch from the survey and focus group componentsof the ABA Commission on Women’s Women of ColorResearch Initiative and are focused primarily on whatlaw firms, as institutions, can do to increase the pres-ence and success of women of color in their attorneyranks. We are currently finishing a supplement to thisresearch focusing specifically on women of color whohave reached notable levels of success in law firms, andwe will be publishing strategies for women of color onhow to succeed in law firms when this supplementalresearch is completed.

1. Address the success of women of color as a firm issue not a women of color’s issue.

2. Integrate women of color into existing measurement efforts.

3. Integrate women of color into the firm’s professional fabric.

4. Integrate women of color into the firm’s social fabric.

5. Increase awareness of women of color’s issues through dialogue.

6. Support women of color’s efforts to build internal and external support systems.

7. Stay compliant with anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and hold people accountable for noncom-pliance.

For full details on this research study and the ABA Commission on Women’s recommendations, please order the fullVisible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms report at www.abanet.org/women.

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