Here’s the 2010 report from the National Association of Women Lawyers. Law firms will come up with great excuses and explanations, but at some point, the numbers are what they are. And what they are suggests a problem that isn’t changing and isn’t being fixed.
All of this brings to mind Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Women (and diverse lawyers too, based on other statistics) are eventually going to have to make a choice. Do they want to continue to fight "the man" or do they want be in the place they deserve to be? If the latter, I suggest that women will find a much more comfortable home in firms that are embracing "the new normal."