Topics: Swiss law firms, diversity, percentage of women.
Reading time: 2 minutes.
Female lawyers are playing an increasingly significant role in the industry. However, unconscious bias, traditional societal role expectations, and a lack of flexibility mean that a large pool of female talent is lost to law firms on the path to partnership (cf. Handelszeitung of March 11, 2021, p. 17). But what is the situation in the largest Swiss law firms? For this purpose, the figures available on the websites of law firms at the beginning of 2021 were analyzed (see my article on the largest Swiss law firms).
Among the employed legal staff, the proportion of women is high. In January 2021, in the largest 15 Swiss law firms, 513 (48.1%) of the 1067 lawyers who were neither partners nor Of-Counsel (Counsel, Managing Associates, Senior Associates, and Associates) were female. In five of the fifteen largest firms, the proportion of employed female lawyers was over 50%, at CMS von Erlach Poncet it was even just over 60%. The fewest female lawyers work at Homburger. There, women represented only about one third of the employed legal staff in January 2021.
Unfortunately, a trend is discernible within the segment of employed legal staff. In January 2021, the listed firms together employed 755 lawyers, whom they refer to as associates. Of these, 376 (49.8%) were women. Seven firms together also employed 182 Senior or Managing Associates, of whom again 88 (48.4%) were women. However, the difference is much greater at the next level. The same firms together employed 130 Counsel, but only 49 (37.7%), just over a third, were women.
The gender gap is even more apparent at the partnership level. At the partner level, 546 partners are countered by only 86 female partners (13.6%). It is interesting to note the differences between the individual firms. As can be seen from the table, the proportion of female partners is highest at Lalive with 30.4%, followed by Meyerlustenberger Lachenal (21.6%), Bär & Karrer (20.4%) and Schellenberg Wittmer (18.2%). Women are least represented in the partnerships of Vischer (5.6%), Baker McKenzie (5.9%), Lenz & Staehelin (8.9%) and Wenger & Vieli (9.1%).
There is a small ray of hope: Compared to a survey from November 2019, almost all firms now have higher female quotas in their partnerships. The proportion has increased particularly strongly at Walder Wyss, where the partnership has grown by a total of ten members between November 2019 and January 2021 - including seven women. This trend is encouraging. However, the quotas are still far too low across the board, even though there is female talent available. And as long as there is no change in mindset in the industry (and among clients!), a lot of talent will continue to be lost until women are proportionally represented in the partnerships of the largest Swiss law firms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dario Ramon Buschor studied Law & Economics at the University of St. Gallen before starting a doctoral program in the fall of 2018. Dario's research focus is on the management of law firms.
SOURCE
Published on Vista, the online magazine of the Executive School of the University of St. Gallen.
Direct link to the article.