Gender Diversity and Disparity in the Legal Profession: An Empirical Analysis of the Gender Profile in National Law Firms and Law Schools

Gender representation in the context of large law firms has received extensive scholarly attention and has been the subject of multiple Supreme Court cases.1 Recently, Ellen Pao lost a highly publicized gender discrimination case against Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers.2 The case unveiled disturbing gender discrimination that affects the lives of many people, especially in the legal profession. With a renewed attack on the “gender gap,” and on cultural sexism in the highest areas of business and law, the question remains: where are we today? How bad is gender discrimination in these desirable fields? What disadvantages do women face and how disparate are employment standards between the two genders