Darling Hill

Canadian and American female lawyers share one major thing in common: they've been leaving the law in droves.

Why? According to Scales Tipped Against Women in the Law (Calgary Herald, Feb. 1, 2009), the reasons women leave the profession are easily summarized as:

Lack of accommodation for women for child-bearing responsibilities. The glass ceiling. A lack of mentoring. A major male culture.

In a nutshell, the Calgary Herald reports that the law is inhospitable to women.

But losing talented women in the law is not a good thing for women, the profession (and the future of the profession), or firms. First, Losing talent is REALLY expensive. Losing an associate can cost a firm roughly $315,000. That's hardly an insignificant amount, even in the best of economic times. Losing talented women also puts a limit on legal possibilities and solutions, and narrows the pool of help available to people in need of legal services (in this economy, it's clear there are LOTS of people who need lawyers and could tap into that talent).

Beyond books, like Staying at Home, Staying in the Law which draws attention to these very issues in the profession and offers creative ways to overcome inflexible profession hurdles, there are new initiatives on the rise, like Canada's Justicia Project which is dedicated to the issues women in the profession face.

Practicing law doesn't have to be all or none. Not only is it possible for the profession to find solutions to the problems lawyers face and find ways to retain lawyers, but it's possible to find paths that keep lawyers from even contemplating leaving the law in the first place.

So, Darling Hill readers ... what needs to be done to create attorney "staying power" in the law? If you've left the law, what would bring you back?

Related Reading: Staying at Home, Staying in the Law: A Guide to Remaining Active in the Legal Profession While Pursuing Your Dreams (American Bar Association, 2008)

Darling Hill. Where Life and Flexible Lawyering Meet. Twitter @darlinghill.

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