Study Finds ‘Astounding’ Absence of Women in Top Rainmaking Roles

A new study has found that women are “terribly underrepresented” in the ranks of major rainmakers at top U.S. law firms. The study by the National Association of Women Lawyers and the NAWL Foundation asked the nation’s top 200 law firms to list the gender of their top 10 rainmakers. The “astounding” results: Forty-six percent have no women at all among their top 10 rainmakers, and 32 percent have only one woman in the top 10. “The results are astounding, even to those of us familiar with the dynamics of legal business development,” according to the study. The reason for the underrepresentation isn’t clear, according to the authors. The study cites several possibilities. The lack of top women rainmakers could be a function of less aggressive rainmaking, the flow of inherited clients to men, a lack of opportunities to participate in business development, or inadequate credit for business development.

Study Finds ‘Astounding’ Absence of Women in Top Rainmaking Roles abajournal.com Mon, Oct 26, 2009