New Jersey Women Lawyers Choose Flexible Workplaces

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A new report by the New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education, based on a

The report, “Legal Talent at the Crossroads: Why New Jersey Women Lawyers Leave their Law Firms and Why They Choose to Stay,” sheds light on the reasons women choose to leave their employers and provides recommendations that can help law firms achieve greater success in the advancement and retention of women.

 The report is based on a survey of more than 520 women lawyers in New Jersey as well as interviews and focus groups involving managing partners and others.

 “In the past, so many studies have shown that women were leaving law firms, or the legal profession altogether, but this study provides a new perspective: that women are taking action by seeking and finding better work/life balance at firms that provide flexibility and a positive environment for women,” says Dianne Mills McKay, chair of the council.  “In a field where women make up half of the talent entering the workforce, retaining and advancing women must be a priority for those firms who want to have the best talent.”

 McKay will present the report’s findings this week during a panel discussion at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s annual meeting in Atlantic City.  The report outlines the case for retaining women through best practices.

 “Employers that follow best practices that provide effective work/life programs benefit from better recruiting, greater productivity, improved client service and reduced expenses associated with turnover,” said Terri Boyer, executive director of the Center for Women and Work and one of the report’s authors.

 The report highlights best practices on the individual level, gleaned from interviews with successful women attorneys, and best practices for employers as well.  The practices that New Jersey law firms can use fall into four categories: assistance with work/life balance; monitoring of advancement policies; development of resources; and removal of bias.

 “This study may be the much-needed catalyst for change given the fact that it is now clear that women will leave their jobs in search of a better and more supportive work environment,” said attorney Christine A. Amalfe, a member of the New Jersey Gender Parity Council and chair of the Employment Law Department at Gibbons, P.C., of Newark.  “Top-level talent will seek out and associate themselves with firms that have proven track records of success on issues important to women lawyers.”

 The New Jersey State Employment and Training Commission Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education was created by legislation to address issues of gender disparity in labor and education, and is the only one of its kind in the United States.  More about the work of the council and copies of earlier reports are available on the SETC Web site, www.njsetc.net.

 The Center for Women and Work at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, was founded in 1993 to conduct research, education, outreach and advocacy on issues affecting working women and their families and to challenge the status quo in policies and organizations that education, train and employ them.

Legal Talent at the Crossroads: Why New Jersey Women Lawyers Leave Their Law Firms, and Why They Choose to Stay

Key Findings

•     According to the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), women comprise close to half (45 percent) of the associates in law firms in New Jersey, but hold only 17 percent of the partnerships.

•     Nearly two-thirds of the respondents indicated they were satisfied with their ability to integrate their work and personal lives, and nearly the same proportion said they were satisfied with the predictability of their hours.

•     Women who expressed frustration with biases often changed careers to find a workplace with stronger policies and a more supportive environment. About half of the study respondents (49 percent) had changed employers since 2002.

•     General reasons for dissatisfaction with former employers included an unsupportive work environment, poor promotion opportunities and issues related to work/life balance.

•     Many respondents left employers due to a lack of flexible work arrangements and chose new employers based on whether they offered access to such arrangements. Of those who had changed jobs in the past five years, more than 70 percent indicated their employer was not supportive of full-time flexible alternatives, whereas only 30 percent described their current employer as unsupportive.

•     Employers that follow best practices and provide effective work/life programs benefit from better recruiting, greater productivity, improved client service and reduced expenses associated with turnover.

•     Best practices law firms can use to retain women lawyers fall into four categories: assist with work/life balance, monitor advancement policies, develop resources and remove bias.

•     “In the work/life category, the most important practice is to define the business case … Without the support of key stakeholders who accept the business case, programs and policies to advance women struggle for justification,” the report notes. Managers and partners of firms interviewed for the study consistently emphasized that the ability to show how a firm’s bottom line would be positively affected by the inclusion of flexible work arrangements was critical to the successful implementation of work/life policies.