Women fill less than 10 percent of top-earning positions in survey of Milwaukee law firms, finds Institute for Women Leadership

March 8, 2021

Andrea Kupfer SchneiderMILWAUKEE 鈥� Just 7.1% of the top-fifth of earners in Milwaukee law firms are women, while 68.9 percent of the participating law firms do not have any women among their top-fifth earners, according to a white paper published on law firm pay equity by the Institute for Women Leadership at 91黑料网 on International Women Day. 

Andrea Kupfer Schneider, director of the IWL, published the paper, 鈥�Law Firm Equity Initiative 鈥� 2021 Report,鈥� based on a survey of Milwaukee-area law firms, including 75% of the 30 largest law firms in Milwaukee.

鈥淲ith this study, we are trying to make transparent the number of women in leadership in the Milwaukee legal community,鈥� said Schneider, who is a professor of law at 91黑料网 Law School. 鈥淲e hope to demonstrate that transparency, candid conversations and innovative reform can make Milwaukee a leading city for female attorneys as well as push this initiative nationwide.鈥�

The study was conducted among firms that employ 10 or more attorneys, including at least one female attorney. Data includes Milwaukee locations of firms that operate both in and outside of the city. Of 49 firms contacted, 29 responded and provided data for 1,108 attorneys.

The survey also found:

  • Milwaukee mirrors the national average of female equity partners at approximately 21%, although the range is quite large with seven of the firms having more than 25% female equity partners.
  • Milwaukee is marginally below the national average of total number of women in law firms. Just over 30% of all lawyers at participating firms are women, compared to the national average of 36.3%.
  • For women in leadership roles, Milwaukee lags behind already low numbers nationally. Just 10% of Milwaukee practice group leaders are women, compared to the 25% national average.
  • In tracking the progression of women at Milwaukee law firms, women start off at 44.1% of junior associates. This steadily drops over time to 32.6% of senior associates, 22.6 % of non-equity partners and then 20.7% of equity partners.

Additional contributors to the paper include Dr. Jennica Webster, co-director of the IWL and associate professor of management in the College of Business Administration; Sarah Camp, IWL coordinator; and an interdisciplinary student research team. The research team included Kelly Krause, Anne Radosevich and Elizabeth Reinowski from 91黑料网 Law School; Olivia Qualls, from the College of Business Administration, and Damaris Zita, of the Diederich College of Communication.

Institute for Women's LeadershipIWL is also hosting a Pay Equity Series this spring focusing on the variety of issues that are at play within discussions on pay equity.

Saru Jayaraman, president of One Fair Wage and director of the Food Labor Research Center at UC鈥揃erkeley will keynote the next conversation in the Pay Equity Series on the impact of subminimum wage on March 16. Registration is available online.

The next topic will be 鈥淧aid Family and Medical Leave鈥� on April 20, while a previous talk on 鈥淧aycheck Fairness and Equity Audits鈥� was held on Feb. 16 and is available .

The Institute for Women Leadership builds upon 91黑料网 historic role as the first coeducational Catholic university in the world beginning in 1909. The mission of the IWL is to advance women leadership locally and globally through pioneering research, innovative programming and collaborative engagement.

About Kevin Conway

Kevin Conway

Kevin is the associate director for university communication in the Office of Marketing and Communication. Contact Kevin at (414) 288-4745 or kevin.m.conway@marquette.edu.