Women in law have made an impact on law firm culture

The landscape of law has shifted, and women in law continue to help shape what it means to practice law outside of the traditional mold.

Since the pandemic, many news outlets have focused on quiet quitting and mass resignations in all fields, and big law firms have not been immune to that trend. However, in law, that pushback started well before 2020.

Women and men alike have said goodbye to long hours and high stress at big law firms in search of a better balance between professional stature and personal satisfaction.

Women’s impact on law culture

Women have played a key role in the move away from the rigid career tracks offered by many big law firms.

A recent survey of women who have left law jobs in the past two years also shows that culture plays a big part in why women leave:

“…the vast majority of women surveyed – 90% – cited their workplace culture as the main reason for quitting, with 82% blaming lack of flexibility and work/life balance and 74% pointing to lack of career trajectory.”

Importantly, the survey revealed that staying home with children did not play a huge role for women leaving big law. The women surveyed did not leave to become stay-at-home moms, but many of them seek a more balanced work schedule that allows for family and personal time.

Of the women surveyed, those 30 and younger tended to jump ship for competing big law firms. Of women 30 and older, however, 61 percent opted for smaller firms. Why? Small law tends to mean more flexibility and better balance.

Still others leave for in-house counsel opportunities, as reported by Bloomberg:

“One of the most common critiques of the Big Law business model cited by women who left is the aggressive push for billable hours. Difficult billable hour goals have historically been a reason why women have left Big Law.”

This piece points out an interesting factor: that many big law litigation firms find “profit in chaos.” In other words, clients in crisis tend to pay well, so big law attorneys who bring in more crisis clients tend to hit revenue goals. The law firm culture in turn creates chaos for its attorneys who must stay in emergency mode most of the time, which results in long hours and weekend work.

Women leaving these law firms en masse have shown that it’s time to change the game.

Women as law founders

Many women lawyers have responded to the law firm culture conflict by founding their own firms. As this writer expresses in a March 2023 opinion piece on MyShingle, they do so because of the:

“…near universal [reasons] anyone who’s left a firm for their own pastures:

  • Desire  to do something different—do more trials and create a firm with greater diversity.
  • Ability to take on more clients because “there aren’t the conflicts that arise in a big firm.”
  • A yearning to build something new. As Wilkinson explained, “We got calls [from another major firm], asking whether we wanted to join, and we said, Nope, you’re what we’re trying to get away from.”

Lawyers who choose independent law practice tend to represent a more forward-looking, mold-breaking mindset. Independent women in law are no exception.

In the interview cited above, prominent lawyer and law firm founder, Beth Wilkinson shares her take on why women leave big law:

“I think the rigidity makes it difficult for women. One problem with Big Law is that the measurement of success is always billable hours. We don’t have billable hours here—it’s all alternative billing. Now I don’t have to keep track of my hours or review time sheets, which makes everything a lot easier. Clients have to trust in you, and you in them.

I also think women appreciate flexibility. We want people to work at the highest level and have a sense of control. As a woman, it’s good to know you can be at different points in your life—when you face personal pressures to take care of family members or your kids—and that the firm will accommodate you.”

Founders at small law firms have the ability to shape a completely different kind of culture, and that’s exactly what women founders have done.

A new beginning

Independent law offers a pathway for creating new and innovative law firm models. Women in law continue to show how these innovative approaches can benefit both clients and the lawyers who serve them.

Big law is no longer the only option available to talented, motivated lawyers, and long work weeks and billable hours pressure do not have to remain the norm.

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