Post #27

There is a gap between the competence that is assumed between male and female lawyers as an effect of the image of a lawyer as being male. This image of a lawyer as being male is of course reflected when we look at the gender demographics of the law profession.

According to English, only 15% of partners in law firms are female, 5% of managing partners at law firms are women, and 12.2% of general counsel in Fortune 500 companies are female.

Women have to continually keep proving themselves as good lawyers to establish competence and credibility.

Women are seen as not being as competent as men in the law profession. A lot of it has to do with men not only dominating the field in numbers but also with credibility. As discussed in the previous blog, women constantly have to seek approval and help from male colleagues so that they are seen as credible and competent. However, there are other things that play into the supposed lower competency of women as lawyers.

One thing is that women have other responsibilities outside of work that possibly prevent them from working the long irregular hours that a career in law can demand. If women need to leave work to pick up a child at school, they are not able to log as many billable hours as men. If they have commitments outside of the law firm they are seen as not putting 100 percent into their job. They are seen as not being dedicated, when in reality, they are as dedicated to their job as their male peers.

One of the lawyers in English’s book said “there’s a perception that the woman will not produce as much either through billable hours or through relationships as the male and there is a perception that men are going to be more predestined to be workaholics than females.”

Another lawyer said that he would prefer to not hire women because “they haven’t had the commitment to the job and the ability to do things that are unpleasant without complaining… they never had any fire in the belly about either becoming a great lawyer or doing great things or being the best you can be, or going as far are you could in the profession.”

The competency gap is also brought into the courtroom. One of the male lawyers said that he took advantage of a woman who he knew had kids. He would try to push depositions back to later hours in the day to force her to have to reschedule because she needed to pick her children up at school. This would just draw out a court case. It gap is also exhibited when big high profile cases are assigned. Women end up not getting assigned to them because they will take lots of time and dedication that women, especially if they have family to take care of, supposedly cannot provide.