When Women Lateral

Survey Reveals Gender Differences

Even with the small sample, the Major, Lindsey & Africa survey revealed what the firm's recruiters anecdotally know to be true: Women laterals are far more likely than men to be disappointed in their expectations about compensation/structure, strength of management, and culture/reputation and were slightly less satisfied regarding each of the other factors (the firm's personality/style, financial health, existing client base, practice support, and national/international presence).

When asked whether they felt they had conducted adequate due diligence on their new firms, women were consistently less likely than men to feel they had adequate and accurate information about compensation practices, governance mechanisms and procedures, and support capabilities (e.g., complementary practitioners, associates, marketing, administrative staff, etc.).

Interestingly, in a study titled 'Women Lawyers and Obstacles to Leadership ' A Report of MIT Workplace Center Surveys on Comparative Career Decisions and Attrition Rates of Men and Women in Massachusetts Law Firms,' published in Spring 2007, the MIT Workplace Center found that unlike women who leave law firm practice entirely, women who switch from one firm to another do not place primary importance on the ability to 'integrate work with family/personal life.' Rather, both men and women switch firms for reasons of career advancement and cite their previous firm's 'poor promotion opportunities' and 'unsupportive work environments' as their major concerns.

Thus, lateral women partners, like men, are joining new firms to better their practices. Yet, our survey shows that they are less satisfied than their male counterparts after they move. So the question becomes: What can firms do to increase the level of lateral-move satisfaction among women partners?

Some Solutions

A detailed conversation about the new firm's compensation system should be mandatory. On the question of compensation, several women I interviewed for this article said that they believed they had been brought in at a lower compensation level than a male partner would have been. Whether this is true or simply a misperception, it created a level of dissatisfaction. The Major, Lindsey & Africa survey shows a real need for firms ' and candidates themselves ' to be certain new partners truly understand the workings of the new firm's compensation system before an offer is accepted. If it is the candidate's first lateral move, she will only have her old firm's compensation structure for comparison and may not be able to discern important subtleties. Law firm compensation packages have become substantially more complex and can vary significantly from one firm to another. Even firms that use the same 'language' may have dramatically different definitions.

The timely and comprehensive integration of new women partners is also a must. Some of the women partners I spoke with reported feeling like a 'silo' upon joining their new firms, which especially when coupled with the concern over not wanting to be labeled 'high maintenance' by asking for too much upfront, left them feeling uncomfortable asking for more information. Several women mentioned feeling that they had been assigned the associates, paralegals, or support staff that others in the firm had rejected but that the firm did not want to fire.

When I asked women partners what could be done to better integrate women laterals, the comments included having a well thought-out lateral integration program. This would include detailed information on governance mechanisms, billing procedures, and support capabilities. One lateral partner I spoke with mentioned that she went through 'orientation' at her new firm with a first-year that just happened to be starting on the same day. Obviously, what she needed to know about the firm was very different from what the new associate needed to know.

A good lateral integration program could help alleviate the sense of loss of being 'wired,' or of professional support that in many cases I was told the women weren't aware they had until their move ' e.g., a friendly face in accounting willing to help out with bills, a phenomenal junior associate, a really good paralegal, a top-notch assistant who knows when to put calls through and when to defer them. The lack of professional support makes producing quality work more arduous and time-consuming, precisely at the moment a new partner is seeking to establish herself and her reputation at a new firm.

Another suggestion for improving the integration of lateral women partners was to put them on firm committees sooner rather than later ' and not just the hiring or summer associate committees. Committee assignments are a way for laterals to become more involved in the firm's processes, to help make important decisions, to form new relationships, to demonstrate their administrative and strategic planning skills, and to quickly get a sense of the firm's priorities.

The time constraints on women partners with families were also mentioned during the course of my interviews as a factor in how quickly women are able to feel integrated. Unlike the long hours with colleagues women experienced as new associates in their former firms, many women partners have families they want to get home to ' and this responsibility often coincides with the point in their career when they make a lateral move. Thus, many women are less likely to grab lunch and get to know new colleagues or stay and socialize after work on a Friday. One female lateral partner told me that her firm's monthly partner meetings and department lunches were an important factor in making her feel integrated and included. These were lunches that were institutionally on her calendar and she made a point to attend them.

We know law firms value their lateral women partners and have often invested significant time and money recruiting them. A little more effort on the front end (i.e., explaining the firm's structure, policies, and practices) and on the actual integration could have dramatic positive long-term results, improving satisfaction for both the firms and the women partners.

In the summer of 2006, Major, Lindsey & Africa, the international legal search/recruiting firm where I am a partner, sent a survey to 5622 lateral partners in 647 law firms to assess their overall satisfaction and to identify the key factors affecting satisfaction; the firm received more than 1000 responses.

Women comprised approximately 17% of the original pool of targeted candidates and 15% of the respondents who identified themselves by gender. This percentage is low primarily due to the lack of women partners. The National Association of Women Lawyers' 'National Survey on Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms' released in October 2006 noted that women who graduated in 1996 (when women represented 44% of all law students) constitute only 24% of the equity partners in AmLaw 200 firms. The numbers fall as the years from graduation increase ' women graduates from the classes of 1990-1995 represent 21% of equity partners, and women graduates from the classes of 1980-89 (typically presumed to be prime partnership years in terms of productivity and earnings) constitute just 19% of equity partner positions.

The NAWL survey goes on to conclude that there is a considerably lower percentage of women equity partners than the number of women law school graduates would predict, especially when the number of men and women who start out as associates in the larger firms is roughly the same and has been for a number of years. The NAWL survey notes the broader implications that these statistics may speak to given the generally believed positive effect that mentoring and role models have on the movement of women into senior roles at firms.

Survey Reveals Gender Differences

Even with the small sample, the Major, Lindsey & Africa survey revealed what the firm's recruiters anecdotally know to be true: Women laterals are far more likely than men to be disappointed in their expectations about compensation/structure, strength of management, and culture/reputation and were slightly less satisfied regarding each of the other factors (the firm's personality/style, financial health, existing client base, practice support, and national/international presence).

When asked whether they felt they had conducted adequate due diligence on their new firms, women were consistently less likely than men to feel they had adequate and accurate information about compensation practices, governance mechanisms and procedures, and support capabilities (e.g., complementary practitioners, associates, marketing, administrative staff, etc.).

Interestingly, in a study titled 'Women Lawyers and Obstacles to Leadership ' A Report of MIT Workplace Center Surveys on Comparative Career Decisions and Attrition Rates of Men and Women in Massachusetts Law Firms,' published in Spring 2007, the MIT Workplace Center found that unlike women who leave law firm practice entirely, women who switch from one firm to another do not place primary importance on the ability to 'integrate work with family/personal life.' Rather, both men and women switch firms for reasons of career advancement and cite their previous firm's 'poor promotion opportunities' and 'unsupportive work environments' as their major concerns.

Thus, lateral women partners, like men, are joining new firms to better their practices. Yet, our survey shows that they are less satisfied than their male counterparts after they move. So the question becomes: What can firms do to increase the level of lateral-move satisfaction among women partners?

Some Solutions

A detailed conversation about the new firm's compensation system should be mandatory. On the question of compensation, several women I interviewed for this article said that they believed they had been brought in at a lower compensation level than a male partner would have been. Whether this is true or simply a misperception, it created a level of dissatisfaction. The Major, Lindsey & Africa survey shows a real need for firms ' and candidates themselves ' to be certain new partners truly understand the workings of the new firm's compensation system before an offer is accepted. If it is the candidate's first lateral move, she will only have her old firm's compensation structure for comparison and may not be able to discern important subtleties. Law firm compensation packages have become substantially more complex and can vary significantly from one firm to another. Even firms that use the same 'language' may have dramatically different definitions.

The timely and comprehensive integration of new women partners is also a must. Some of the women partners I spoke with reported feeling like a 'silo' upon joining their new firms, which especially when coupled with the concern over not wanting to be labeled 'high maintenance' by asking for too much upfront, left them feeling uncomfortable asking for more information. Several women mentioned feeling that they had been assigned the associates, paralegals, or support staff that others in the firm had rejected but that the firm did not want to fire.

When I asked women partners what could be done to better integrate women laterals, the comments included having a well thought-out lateral integration program. This would include detailed information on governance mechanisms, billing procedures, and support capabilities. One lateral partner I spoke with mentioned that she went through 'orientation' at her new firm with a first-year that just happened to be starting on the same day. Obviously, what she needed to know about the firm was very different from what the new associate needed to know.

A good lateral integration program could help alleviate the sense of loss of being 'wired,' or of professional support that in many cases I was told the women weren't aware they had until their move ' e.g., a friendly face in accounting willing to help out with bills, a phenomenal junior associate, a really good paralegal, a top-notch assistant who knows when to put calls through and when to defer them. The lack of professional support makes producing quality work more arduous and time-consuming, precisely at the moment a new partner is seeking to establish herself and her reputation at a new firm.

Another suggestion for improving the integration of lateral women partners was to put them on firm committees sooner rather than later ' and not just the hiring or summer associate committees. Committee assignments are a way for laterals to become more involved in the firm's processes, to help make important decisions, to form new relationships, to demonstrate their administrative and strategic planning skills, and to quickly get a sense of the firm's priorities.

The time constraints on women partners with families were also mentioned during the course of my interviews as a factor in how quickly women are able to feel integrated. Unlike the long hours with colleagues women experienced as new associates in their former firms, many women partners have families they want to get home to ' and this responsibility often coincides with the point in their career when they make a lateral move. Thus, many women are less likely to grab lunch and get to know new colleagues or stay and socialize after work on a Friday. One female lateral partner told me that her firm's monthly partner meetings and department lunches were an important factor in making her feel integrated and included. These were lunches that were institutionally on her calendar and she made a point to attend them.

We know law firms value their lateral women partners and have often invested significant time and money recruiting them. A little more effort on the front end (i.e., explaining the firm's structure, policies, and practices) and on the actual integration could have dramatic positive long-term results, improving satisfaction for both the firms and the women partners.