Here is a secret of sorts. My wife and I applied to law school together. We attended law school together. We took every class together. We studied together. We took the bar exam together. And, with the exception of a couple of classes, she did better than me in every instance. Even, I might add, when she was pregnant and caring for our small child (who is now in law school herself).
Women lawyers are so incredibly detail oriented. Maybe it is because we men lawyers will not ask for directions. I am not sure. Is there any doubt that Hillary Clinton is smarter than Bill? Like the late, great Ann Richards use to say, Ginger Rogers use to do everything Fred Astaire did, only she did it backwards and in high heals. There is a lot of truth to this. It does not mean that I cannot compete, but over the years I have learned to live with my second class nature.
Coupled with all of this, women have different burdens such as family issues. That, along with basic discrimination issues, they have had trouble breaking through the glass ceiling and being elevated to partner in Big Law.
Knowing all of this, it shocked me when I read Susan Cartier Liebel's post on SoloLawyer stating that only 34% of women are in solo practice. This compared to the fact that solos make up the majority of most every bar association.
The question is why? This is especially true because it would seem that the solo practice of law, and especially the Third Wave and home office practice of law, would suit women attorneys so well in juggling work and home life. I know it has worked well for both my wife and I in the care of our four children.
Could it be a lack of experience as to how the whole home office / solo thing might actually benefit them? Maybe it is a lack of insurance coverage or a lack of good insurance coverage that still hampers a solo practice? Most likely the latter is true in a broader sense. As stated in Susan's post 77% of attorneys in public interest organizations are women. 61% in educational institutions are women. While only 31% of the lawyers in Fortune 500 companies are women.
The trend seems to be a sense of safety, security and flexibility that billing hungry Big Law and big business just cannot completely offer. It would seem that solo practice would offer the flexibility needed, but could be slight on the safety and security issues.
Whatever the problem, it certainly deserves looking into.
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