Summaries of Articles - Best Practices

Article reviewing the findings of a survey about work-life balance by the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the North Carolina Bar Association. The YLD distributed over 3,000 surveys to young lawyers who were members of the NCBA and received the highest response rate of any survey conducted by the NCBA. The YLD recommends that employers take action to improve work-life balance and thereby decrease attrition and retain talented young attorneys. The YLD warns that employers must make such changes or risk losing tomorrow’s leaders.

Key Findings:

• The legal profession suffers a high rate of attrition, with 43% of law firm associates leaving their firms within the first three years of practice.
• Attrition rates are highest among women, minorities, and attorneys employed in large firms.
• The cost of attrition is real: firms are losing an estimated $200,000 to $500,000 per associate lost.
• Client expectations and demands and billable hour requirements were cited as the top work factors affecting work-life balance.
• Household maintenance and chores, sports and exercise, and quality family time were named as the top three non-work factors affecting work-life balance.
• Protected vacation time and competent, accessible paralegal, secretarial, and staff support were cited as the most important factors in improving work-life balance.
• Young attorneys perceived fewer billable hours, employer sponsored gym membership, and compressed work weeks (i.e., four, 10-hour days per week) as factors that would most improve their work-life balance.

The Manual was developed by the Bar Association of San Francisco Committee on Equality in 1993-94. It contains a number of sample policies designed to be tailored to particular circumstances and adopted by law firms, as part of an effort to increase diversity at law firms. Those manuals/policies include the following:

• Model Policy on Alternative Work Schedules for Attorneys
• Model sexual Harassment Policy, Guidelines and Sample Policy
• Breast Cancer Project (including a Volunteer Legal Services Program for cancer -Cancer Legal Services Project)
• Guide on Eliminating Sexual Orientation Discrimination, including General Employment Policies and Practices
• Pilot Summer Clerkship Program for Law Students with Disabilities

This article compares the stereotypes of male and female executives to men and women in the legal profession. It presents five statistically significant gender differences between male and female executives:

• Executive men were more likely to feel equal to the demands for time and energy in their daily lives
• Executive men were more likely to feel in tune with their surroundings and were more likely to see things the way that their peers did
• Executive men were more likely to feel comfortable in environments in which there is a desire to confirm to intellectual authority and the criteria for excellence are clearly specified
• Executive women were more likely to move in directions that were new and original
• Executive women were more likely to behave as individuals and to personalize their experiences

Most relevant to the legal professional, it suggested that, among lawyers, male and female lawyers are viewed as being equally competent.

This eight page article summarizes the progress at Deloitte & Touche resulting from a management-led initiative to reduce the attrition of women partners. The lessons learned from the Deloitte & Touche initiative are:

• Make sure senior management is front and center in leading an initiative to promote retention of women.
• Make an "airtight business case" for cultural change, supporting why retention is key to business success.
• Let the world watch you by promoting the initiative publicly and in the media.
• Begin with dialogue, through required workshops, to address gender based assumptions and issues.
• Use a flexible system of accountability. After requiring local offices to measure their efforts and success, they let office heads select their individual focus and measure the success of women initiatives
• Promote work-life balance for both men and women.

Comprehensive and informative compilation and commentary on results of 2001 survey conducted by “Catalyst,” a non-profit research group, sponsored by Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, U. Cal – Berkeley, Yale Law School and Univ. of Michigan Law School, to address the “glass ceiling” for women law graduates. Assembles data from sampling of 6300 law grads, including white men and women, and men and women of color, from 1970-1999.

Key Findings:

• From 1970-1999, only 30% of women who started in law firms remain in law firms, as opposed to 51 percent of men; only 15.6% of law partners and 13.7 of general counsels are women.
• 3 of 4 men and women law grads are satisfied with the value of their law degrees; however, women are less satisfied with their advancement than white men.
• Women of color are the least satisfied overall, particularly re-advancement opportunities.
• 67% of women cite commitment to personal and family responsibilities as the top barrier to advancement; only 49% of men perceive that as the top barrier to women's advancement.
• Men and women report similar levels and sources of work/life conflict.
• 34% of women law grads have worked part-time; only 9% of men have.
• Compared to law firms, corporate legal departments do not provide women with a significantly higher level of either advancement or work/life balance.
• Financial incentives are the best incentive for promoting retention policies, including identifying resources spent toward developing talent and obtaining the most talented pool.
• Women working on alternative or flexible arrangements who feel that their firm is committed to the arrangement are more likely, in turn, to be committed to their firm.
• Two-thirds of women, compared to half of men, chose their current employer based on work/life balance.
• In comparison to women in firms and corporations, women in education, government and nonprofits report less work/life conflict.
• Recommends finding influential mentors and serving as a mentor; "Network, Network, Network." Good example of firm sponsoring female only client socials and network opportunities.

This report, prepared by the Commission on Women in the Profession, provides a comprehensive contemporary review of the status of women in the American legal profession and justice system. The report addresses several areas (outline corresponds to the topics covered in the report):

(1) Barriers for Women in the Legal Profession.

• Gender Stereotypes
• Support Networks (or lack thereof)
• Workplace Structures (lack of flexible work alternative)
• Sexual Harassment (lack of enforcement of policies)
• Gender Bias in the Justice System (composition of bench, bar and court personnel; outcomes)

(2) Gender Issues in Context - Looks at employment settings (law firms, corporate counsel, government and public interest organizations, the judiciary, legal education

(3) The Difference Gender Makes - Women's "different voice"; differences among women (there is no uniform "woman's point of view")

(4) An Agenda for Change

• Guiding Principles: Commitment and Accountability
• Strategies for Legal Employers and Bar Associations;
• Assessment of Problems and Responses: Policy Evaluation, Benchmarks and training
• Evaluation structures, Leadership Opportunities and Professional Development
• Quality of Life and Work Family Initiatives
• Mentoring Programs and Women's Networks
• Sexual Harassment
• Pro Bono work by and for Women
• Strategies for the Justice System

This comprehensive manual (68 pages) was prepared by the ABA Commission on Women to address quality of life issues for women attorneys. The manual is divided into the following parts:

Part I. Historical and Structural Overview of the Manual.

• Addresses the historical and cultural problems with work/life balance. For example, half of surveyed lawyers respond that they do not have enough time for themselves or their families. Almost three-quarters of lawyers with children report difficulty balancing professional and personal demands.

Part II. The Problems in Current Workplace Practices.

• Addresses the problems for lawyers: excessive hours, unmanageable schedules and inadequate family-related benefits.
• Addresses the problems for both public employers and private law firms: how workplaces lose when they fail to foster balanced lives, with data on the average costs of recruiting and retraining lost attorneys.

Part III. Strategies for Change.

• Provides employers strategies for demonstrating a commitment to work/life balance issues, such as providing services, information and benefits to meet the needs of employees working extended hours (e.g., onsite childcare facilities).

Part IV. Alternative Work Schedules.

• Discusses the need for developing a formal policy for alternative work schedules for associates and partners and presents topics for including in such a policy, such as schedule structures, allocation of work and emergency coverage, compensation, benefits, work assignments, performance reviews and progression towards partnership.
• Includes a sample alternative work policy.

Part V. Family Leave Policies.

• Discusses the benefits of adopting a formal family leave policy in the workplace.
• Includes a sample family leave policy.

The changing nature of private law practice today has been accompanied by increased rates of lawyer mobility. This study looking at lawyer compensation in Colorado revealed several interesting patterns - women move more often than men, women move earlier in their careers than men, and women are more likely than men to make moves that are classified as horizontal, or even downward, mobility. Why do we see these patterns of movement? What do they mean for the careers of women lawyers? The study examines those questions.

This final report of the Project for Attorney Retention ("PAR") concludes that the existing part-time programs offered by law firms are unusable and ineffective.

• It costs a law firm between $200,000 & $500,000 to replace each attorney that leaves, resulting in a lose of millions of dollars at firms with high attrition rates.
• Salaries, bonuses, benefits and advancement of attorney working reduced schedules should be proportionate to the hours that they work.
• Reduced schedules should be made available to any attorney who can provide a practical business plan, not just women, parents and primary caregivers.
• In order to effectively implement reduced schedules, law firms must provide (1) clear & consistent positive message from the top, (2) training and a coordinator to monitor standards to determine the fairness and effectiveness of the program; and (3) planning processes to create appropriate schedules to meet the needs of both the participating attorneys and the firm.
• By focusing on their bottom-line instead of just their revenue, law firms will see that their bottom-line benefits from allowing attorneys to work on part-time schedules and that they actually can afford to do so.
• Lawyers have successfully worked part-time schedules in areas such as litigation and mergers & acquisitions that are commonly thought to be unsuitable to such schedules.

This article in the ABA Journal summarizes some of the findings of the Catalyst 2001 Report ("Women in Law: Making the Case") and the ABA Commission's 2001 Report, The Unfinished Agenda: Women and the Legal Profession. Ms. Choo notes that in 2001 the incoming class of first-year law students was at least 50% women, and yet there are still barriers to progress for women in the legal profession.

This article reveals the many complex ways to examine diversity in the legal profession. The article uses data from EEO-1 reports, which are required of law firms who employ more than 100 employees, and from the National Association of Law Placement (NALP) Directory of Legal Employers. The article mentions the difference between the two reports, and argues that if data collection agencies would reach an agreement on the appropriate measurement standards, the results of such reports would be clearer. It is difficult to come to any solid conclusions about specifics regarding the employment of women and minorities in the legal profession based on these reports and the way the data was arranged. However, it is clear from either source that the number and percentages of women and minority attorneys and JD graduates have greatly increased since 1975. The number and size of law firms has increased as well. Large nationally known law firms have a higher proportion of women and minorities than other types of law firms. As to partners and associates in law firms, women, African Americans, Hispanics and Asians all have lower odds of being partners than White males.

Article on the business and economic case for promoting racial diversity in law firms and diversity, in general, with no specific focus on women. Discusses minorities as a “business asset” that firms should use, proactively, to solidify corporate clients who place an increasing emphasis on using diverse attorneys.

Discusses an increased need for work-life balances among both male and female lawyers. General principles of work-life balanced programs are discussed. These principles include the financial rewards of such programs, higher retention rates, addressing inequalities between male and female attorneys or male and female caregivers. Effective programs reflect commitment from senior partners and firm wide ownership and participation.

The Committee adopted best practices to "promote practices among legal employers (public and private) that encourage employment and retention of women in the profession." This short article (two pages) summarizes best-practices in response to issues of importance to women.

• Equal Access Issues – providing women equal access to clients and equal opportunity for challenging work assignments, providing training, networking and support and fair compensation, while recognizing participation in community and bar activities.
• Workday Issues – offer mentoring, adopt anti-discrimination policies, support gender equity, offer equitable and viable alternative part time and flexible work schedules.
• Governance Issues – ensure that women are proportionately involved in management decision, gather and disseminate gender statistics and charge a person or committee with promoting diversity, including gender equity.
• Evaluation/Promotion Issues – apply uniform standards for men and women, consider client satisfaction and recognize and reward lawyer mentoring, establish goals and benchmarks for individual lawyers through their personal evaluations.
• Retention Issues – conduct exit interviews at departure; address gender issues in retention rates.
• Compensation Issues – Establish non-discriminatory bases for compensation and communicate the basis for compensation, and ensure that women participate in compensation decisions.

Many Chicago law firms agreed to be a part of this call to action created by the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance to increase their percentage of female attorneys. In order to achieve this goal, the Chicago Bar Association suggested that those consider doing the following:

• Incorporate the goal of increasing the presence of attorneys into their mission and strategic plan.
• Select an individual or group to be in charge of creating initiatives to achieve this goal while providing the time, money and expertise to do so.
• Make an effort to hire more female lateral attorneys.
• Ensure that women are included on the legal teams of the firm’s top 25 revenue-producing clients in the same proportion that they exist as associates and partners at the firm.
• Ensure that flexible hours policy should be thoroughly examined for, among other things, availability, quality and accessibility.
• Have proportionate female membership on firm committees and in female practice groups.
• Have female equity and non-equity partners.
• Institute informal and formal mentoring programs that focus on the professional development skills of all associates.
• Review its method of evaluating its employees to determine whether any gender biases exist and whether there are any disproportionate negative impacts on women.
• Review its compensation structure to determine whether any gender biases exist and whether women’s compensation is proportionate to their representation within the firm.
• Require equal access to and use of important professional development opportunities.

Study of women's career paths and the inherently different choices women and men confront during their careers. The study concludes that women opt out largely for family-related reasons (such as caring for a child or an elderly relative), but that the majority of these women seek to retain an alternative work schedule, rather than leave their profession entirely. In light of the fact that women make up 58% of college graduates and nearly 50% of those with professional and graduate degrees (a percentage that is estimated to grow by 16% by 2015), the study finds that companies are becoming increasingly open to flexible work arrangements in hopes of retaining talent. The study finds that women who choose to leave work entirely often do so because of an “up or out” mentality, and that those women quickly lose earning power and ambition as discouragement prevails.

This article (eleven pages) addresses the phenomenon of women voluntarily taking time off from a successful career ("off-ramping") and the hurdles facing such women upon re-entry into the workplace ("on-ramping"). The article summarizes a survey conducted in 2004 by the Center for Work-Life Policy Task Force comprised of Ernst & Young, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers members. The sample surveyed consisted of "highly qualified women" ("HWQ"), i.e., women with a graduate degree, a professional degree, or a high-honors undergraduate degree.

Key Findings:

• Nearly 4 in 10 HQW voluntarily leave the work force at some point in their careers.
• 44% of off-ramping HQW leave the workplace to devote more time to family, compared to only 12% of off-ramping men.
• 93% of HQW who are off-ramped want to return to their careers eventually.
• 32% of off-ramped women cite the fact that their spouse’s income was adequate as a reason contributing to their off-ramping decision.
• The average period of off-ramping is 2.2 years.
• The financial penalties in the business sector are harsh: HQW’s earning power dips an average of 28% when they off-ramp.
• Across all fields, when HQW spend 3 or more years out of the workforce, they lose 37% of their earning power.
• 82% of HQW want reduced-hours in the workforce.

The Cheat Sheet is a tool for women law students and women attorneys seeking jobs as well as a reference guide for law schools, firms and other legal employers. It is intended to provide a guide for women seeking employment and for employers seeking to improve their practices. The Cheat Sheet sets forth questions to consider when seeking employment and steps to consider after obtaining an offer, which are based on the following six indicia of an employer’s commitment to the retention and advancement of women attorneys:

• Statistical and background information;
• Partnership and advancement;
• Leadership and accountability;
• Business development and networking;
• Workplace flexibility; and
• Mentoring for women attorneys.

The first in-depth review of the status of women attorneys in the legal profession, Glass Ceilings and Open Doors: Women's Advancement in the Legal Profession, 64 Fordham L. Rev. 291 (1995), reported that although women make up at least 40% of law school graduating classes, women are noticeably absent from partnership ranks. Although the Glass Ceilings report prompted debate within the legal community, ten years after the report, women remained underrepresented in the profession’s upper echelons. Given the seeming lack of advancement of women attorneys, the committee set out to assess why progress had been slow since the publication of Glass Ceilings. In doing so, the committee reviewed extensive surveys, analyses, articles, statistical data and initiatives conducted by other organizations and bar associations across the country. The committee determined that while the percentages of men and women in law firms and legal departments are equivalent at the entry level, a gap develops and expands at each point along the career path. The committee also discovered that the legal profession fared especially poorly when compared to other professions, such as accounting. Thus, the committee decided to develop practical solutions to tackle the obstacles faced by women in the legal profession; hence the “best practices” were established.

The "best practices" are centered on the following principles: 1) senior management commitment; 2) organizational accountability; 3) representative leadership; 4) proportionate representation; 5) career advancement; 6) workplace flexibility; 7) family care; 8) mentoring culture; 9) developmental training; and 10) diversity awareness. The "best practices" are discrete, practical suggestions that a firm or corporation may implement in effort to address the disparities reported in Glass Ceilings. In short, instead of accumulating data from women in the profession and drawing conclusions therefrom, Best Practices for the Hiring, Training, Retention and Advancement of Women Attorneys endeavors to provide concrete, discrete best practices that would facilitate the remediation of the existing impediments to the retention and advancement of women attorneys in the legal profession.

Phase I: In 2006, the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA) launched an Initiative on Advancement and Retention of Women (Initiative). The Initiative focused on three questions: What do DC firms and women lawyers perceive to be the stumbling blocks to their mutual success in moving more women farther faster? What are DC firms doing already to keep and promote women? And, can we use the answers to those two questions to discern new ideas and better ways to stem the departure of women from law practice?

The Initiative gathered information and feedback through a series of conferences that included firm leaders, experts and women lawyers. The results of this series of conferences are reported in Creating Pathways to Success (2006). The 2006 Report answers the three questions posed at the outset of the Initiative. A hard look at the perceived challenges led to the finding that women leave when their capabilities are not valued, or their contributions are not acknowledged or recognized. A discussion of the current strategies in place at law firms revealed that the core of the problem is the need to help all women, including part-time lawyers, from day one, to begin their development into senior partners and rainmakers. The third question, are there better ways to stem early attrition among women lawyers, is answered in the WBA Roadmap, a series of pragmatic solutions for developing and advancing successful women. [Note: The WBA website provides a link to the report, but the link did not connect with the report. It may be possible to obtain a copy by calling the WBA]

Phase II: The Initiative moved into its second phase with a focus on the dwindling number of women of color in law firms. In May 2008, the WBA issued its report, Creating Pathways to Success for All, detailing the findings of the WBA's Diversity Summit (Summit), held on March 19, 2008, at historic Howard University Law School. The 2008 Report makes concrete recommendations for addressing the combined effects of gender and race that affect the success and advancement of our colleagues who are women attorneys of color. The 2008 Report not only surveys the literature and presents findings from our Summit and the work of our Diversity Committee, but also presents action-steps that all stakeholders with an interest in this issue – law-firm leaders, lawyers, clients, law schools, and bar associations – can do to address this issue and stem the attrition of women of color from our law firms.

Phase III: The Navigating the Corporate Matrix program is the work of the WBA’s Task Force on Advancement and Retention of Women and In-House Counsel Committee, with advice and input from an Advisory Board of nationally recognized experts in the field and in-house counsel from a range of industries, who are committed to advancing women in-house counsel. This day-long summit took place at American University Washington College of Law. Our goal is to have our community again place itself on the national map as forward-thinkers whose leaders have come together, listened to the experts present the latest objective research, shared best practices and frustrations, and undertaken a frank self-appraisal of how to move the ball forward in the continuing effort to improve retention of women attorneys and their advancement to the highest ranks of our profession. The summit resulted in a Report that is available from the ABA.

The Survey was completed by a majority of the nation's 200 largest law firms, as defined by American Lawyer in 2005, and was designed, generally speaking, to collect data concerning the leadership status of women lawyers in private practice. Specifically, the Survey was designed to measure: 1) the comparative role of women lawyers at all levels of law firm seniority, including equity partners; 2) different types of partnership opportunities in law firms; 3) women's roles in the governance of firms; and 4) women's compensation relative to men's compensation at similar levels of seniority. NAWL conduced the Survey to provide initial benchmarks on the general issue of the status of women in private practice. NAWL intends to repeat the Survey on an annual basis to measure trends in the data.

Key Findings:

• Comparative role of women lawyers: Women are well represented at the lowest level of the profession, constituting 45% of associates. However, while women account for almost half of law firm associates, they account for 28% of of-counsel lawyers and 26% of non-equity partners. At the highest level, women account for 16% of equity partners.
• Partnership opportunities: For graduates of law school class of 1979 or earlier, women comprise between 9-10% of equity partners. For graduates of law school classes 1980-1989, women comprise 19% of equity partners. For graduates of law school classes 1990-1995, women comprise 21% of equity partners. For graduates of law school classes 1996 or later, women comprise 24% of equity partners. While there has been improvement in the number of women equity partners over the generations, there is a lower percentage of equity partners of equity partners than law school graduation numbers would predict, given that women now comprise approximately 50% of law school graduates. The percentages of non-equity partners in each of these generations is higher, such that women occupy 20% of equity partner positions and 33% of non-equity positions. Furthermore, whether a firm has a tiered partnership structure impacts whether women progress to equity partner, such that in two-tiered firms, women constitute a smaller percentage of equity partners.
• Governance: Women hold on average only 16% of the seats on their firm's highest governing committee. Only 5% of managing partners are women.
• Compensation: The survey questions related to compensation had a lower response rate than any other questions. In general, the results indicate that male partners, both equity and non-equity, and male of counsel attorneys are higher compensated than their female counterparts.

Executive summary of findings of a survey conducted by the Commission on Women in the Profession, American Bar Association,, using data collected by the National Opinion Research Center, based on data from 920 respondents. Response rate: 75% women attorneys of color, 68% for men of color, 79% white women and 64% white men.

Key Findings:

• Nearly half of women of color but only 3% of white men experienced demeaning comments or harassment.
• Nearly 2/3 of women of color but only 4% of white men were excluded from informal and formal networking opportunities; 43% of women of color but only 3% of white men had limited access to client development opportunities.
• 44% of women of color but only 2% of white men reported having been denied desirable assignments.
• 53% of women of color and 72% of white men chose to remain in law firms.

This article describes a networking event in Manhattan shoe store targeted at professional women. The event included shopping at a shoe store (with a portion of the proceeds going to Dress for Success, a non profit helping women move into jobs) and a dinner afterwards. The event was sponsored by a law firm.

Survey conducted by the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers included 84 law firms. Part time and flexible schedules are crucial to recruiting, retaining and developing women leaders in the legal profession. Findings conclude that formal written policies are best because a written policy communicates a firm's commitment towards flexibility. Defining parameters of a part time position is central to the success of any part time arrangement. Success is best obtained when those persons in the decision-making levels of a firm support and are committed to such policies. Otherwise, survey results tend to show that the part time worker is not as respected.

Report on the Summit convened to address fact that only 15% of equity partners, general counsel in Fortune 500 companies and law professors are women – and that the percentage has remained the same level for the past 15 years. NAWL issued the challenge for these groups to achieve a one-third level by 2015.

Provides strategies for these groups to achieve this goal, such as by publishing the criteria for advancement to equity partner, refine evaluation systems to reflect criteria for leadership, appoint a diverse nominating committee, ensure that firm leaders oversee the process and hold partners accountable, sustain and nurture existing women partners, offer leadership and business development training, ensure equitable compensation, collect date through exit interviews, promote meaningful mentoring, give billable credit for time spent on networking activities, provide networking and business development training, promote workplace flexibility and train women on improving their self-promotion.

Also includes the above strategies compiled in checklist format.

New research from Rutgers' Center for Women and Work finds that women lawyers are taking control of their lives by choosing employers that support flexible workplaces. The report 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.

The report outlines the case for retaining women through best practices in four categories: assistance with work/life balance; monitoring of advancement policies; development of resources; and removal of bias.

The study, focusing mostly on women in private practice, said 41 percent of the respondents felt an unsupportive work environment was the top reason for leaving a job. Examples of that atmosphere were:

• A "glass ceiling" or gender bias that prevents women from advancing to top positions.
• A "maternal wall" that stalls a woman's career trajectory when she becomes pregnant.
• A generation gap in which senior women partners, who began their careers when women lawyers were rare and discrimination was blatant, are critical and provide little mentorship to younger women associates.
• Poor promotion opportunity was the second main reason for leaving.
• The third main reason for leaving, cited by 33 percent, was better wages or benefits at the next job.

The study outlined steps a law firm can take to retain women lawyers, including:

• Offering custom work schedules such as a full-time schedule with the freedom to come and go, or work at home as needed; compressed work weeks in which the employee works longer hours but fewer days; and job sharing.
• Offering flexible work arrangements to all lawyers and staff, not just mothers or parents. Respondents said some firms offer flexible scheduling to mothers only, which the report said stigmatized its use.
• Ensuring that those using flexible-work arrangements have opportunities for advancement, to counteract any negative perception of such arrangements as a dead end.
• Making advancement policies transparent by publishing the criteria for partnership and intermediary positions to promote a sense of fairness and objectivity in the workplace.
• Making sure women are not socially isolated in the firm. Initiatives to bring women lawyers together address generational conflicts and provides formal and informal mentoring relationships, the study's authors said.
• Ensuring that women are not excluded from business-development opportunities. Some firms provide mentoring and seminars to teach women lawyers about networking and to provide introductions.
• Providing state-of-the-art remote access, including mobile phones capable of e-mail, laptop computers with wireless connectivity and remote access to the firm's computer network, as well as technology training, to enable attorneys to work offsite and remain available to clients.

The Report found firms can reap economic advantages from creating an atmosphere friendly to women including better recruiting, greater productivity, improved client service and reduced expenses associated with turnover.

Report providing a summary of the recommendations from the NCBA’s Joint Diversity Task Force. Comprised of five subcommittees, the Bar established the task force to identify challenges to achieving diversity in the profession and to recommend both immediate and long-term actions to increase diversity and thus create a Bar more proportionally representative of the general population. The Task Force found that educational barriers constituted the greatest challenge to a diverse profession.

Key Recommendations:

• Increase the flow of students who enter the profession by forming alliances with schools and after-school programs to advocate for equality in education and to expose students to the law through books, speakers, and mentoring.
• Provide academic assistance and support with test preparation for diverse students seeking entrance into law school and/or sitting for the Bar.
• Create a Leadership Academy to promote leadership opportunities within the legal profession for minorities and women.
• Organize and promote networking opportunities for diverse members of the Bar.
• Adopt a "Diversity Resolution" as the NCBA's commitment to diversity initiatives.
• Establish the Joint Diversity Task Force as a permanent component of the NCBA to ensure continued focus on these issues.