Law Firm Compensation Study Finds Female Equity Partners Earn Less
Wednesday, September 25, 2013

I hate to say it, but it will probably come as no great surprise that a recent Compensation in Law Firms study from Keshet Consulting found that female equity partners are compensated less for the same billable hours and business origination as male equity partners.

The study, originally launched in 2010, surveyed a fairly equal number of male and female equity partners, non-equity partners and associates in both large (31-200 lawyers) and small (1-30 lawyers) firms.

From the executive summary of the report:

Our findings show that compensation is gender based with male equity partners receiving more compensation than women equity partners do. This fact is true when female and male equity partners bill the same number of hours, generate the same levels of origination, have the same level of law firm tenure and work in the same size law firms. The levels of compensation differences increase with the more women increase their billable hours and origination, the higher the tenure and for those who work in larger law firms.

The report goes on to explore the “why” and finds that “institutionalized discrimination” is the major factor in compensation differences between the sexes. It notes that compensation committees in law firms tend to be highly segregated by gender, race and ethnicity, with white males dominating those organizations. 

 

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