A quick glance around most law firms today, and you would be hard-pressed to see many female partners running the show. Not only do women constitute a mere 16 percent of equity partners, but only 6 percent serve as their firms' managing partners and barely 15 percent serve on their firms' highest-governing committee. These percentages, courtesy of the National Association of Women Lawyers' 2009 "Survey on the Retention & Promotion of Women in Law Firms," show no change from 2008 and have barely advanced since the survey began in 2006.
To find out how women can attain top management roles in their firms, we interviewed female partners in positions of power as well as partners on their way up. Ruth Fisher, Bonnie Eskenazi and Alison Ressler are on the executive committees of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Greenberg Glusker and Sullivan & C romwell, respectively. We also spoke with managing partners: Andra Greene at Irell & Manella; Vicki Freimann at Carroll, Burdick & McDonough; Carla C hristofferson at O'Melveny & Myers; Ann Marie Mortimer at Hunton & Williams; and Gail Title at Katten Muchin. We talked with Katherine Forster of Munger, Tolles & Olson and Tiffany Hedgpeth of Bingham McC utchen, as well, to gain the perspective of junior partners on their way up.
RAINMAKING AS A PATH TO LEADERSHIP
The women we spoke with think the best and most direct route to leadership is through the development of one's book of business. According to Fisher, the people who are viewed as key contributors to the economic health of the firm are the ones most likely to be selected to serve on important committees. As Eskenazi puts it, "The people in leadership positions are the ones who command the most respect and this is usually tied to business generation. The minimum requirement for attaining top management roles in most firms is a book of business." But the NAWL's 2009 survey found that 46 percent of the nation's largest law firms have no women among their top 10 rainmakers; 32 percent have just one woman. Part of the explanation is that many women find it difficult to perform some of the tasks required to be a successful rainmaker.
• Promote yourself. The most obvious is asking people for business. Eskenazi says women are reluctant to promote themselves, or ask people in their social networks for anything work-related. Male partners, on the other hand, have been successfully doing it for years. "Women tend to be more nurturing, so we often feel conflicted when we try to take advantage of a personal relationship for business purposes," she explains. "Women have to learn to overcome this and bridge that gap to become successful rainmakers."
Promotion isn't just critical for winning business, though. It is also important to promote yourself within your firm. One of the typical stumbling blocks for women, according to Freimann, is that they tend to be overly critical of themselves, which often leads to a reluctance to tout their own skills. Mortimer adds that most women are not comfortable being assertive. One way around this obstacle, suggests Christofferson, is to phrase your needs in a more global context. For example, "I should be staffed on this case" could be phrased as "More women need to be brought into this matter." Presenting the situation as part of a larger issue can yield better results, and cast you as someone who thinks about things from a strategic, rather than merely a personal, point of view.
• Be a problem solver. Despite making most of the decisions in their homes and usually serving as the primary raiser of their children, it is often difficult for women to see themselves as problem solvers. Yet, according to Mortimer, this is one of the key requirements for both rainmaking and law firm management. She says you need to know how to run your practice and be able to overcome obstacles. Skills like creating a brand for yourself, attracting and retaining clients, oral advocacy, establishing timelines and meeting budgets are as important for business development as for running a law firm.
To be a successful rainmaker, you also need a strong desire and drive to do the work. Having a "service" mentality and being responsive and available to clients are also key. "Clients definitely come first," confirms Mortimer. This can exact a stiff price, though. Ressler, for example, has had to cancel vacations and other events at the eleventh hour due to last-minute client needs. She recognizes and accepts this as being inherent in a service-oriented business and believes that "it is important to show one's children that one can have both a strong family and a strong career."
BUILD SUPPORT NETWORKS
Though life would be much simpler if there were just one path to success, the women we interviewed say it is much more complicated. "You cannot succeed by following someone else's path," comments Ressler. Take the question of when to have children, for example. Ressler made partner as a mother with two young children. Hedgpeth made partner with several children and while working part-time. Christofferson, on the other hand, recently had her first child. Many factors play a role in what you are able to accomplish at different points in your life and career — including the attitudes within your firm and the quality and quantity of the support that you have.
• External support. This can come from family, friends or outside organizations. Most of the women who are mothers say they could not have advanced to their current positions without someone (a family member or nanny) staying at home with their children. Title says that once she realized there was another person who could be trusted with her child, she could delegate other responsibilities as well. Professional networking organizations can also provide support. Greene notes that when she joined the ABA Litigation Section she met other women like herself who provided a sounding board and encouragement along the way. Christofferson regularly organizes "Girl Power Dinners" with successful female friends in various industries.
• Internal support. Even more importantly, perhaps, is your firm's support of women
in leadership positions. Sometimes, it comes as a "push" from below. Eskenazi, for example, joined Greenberg Glusker's executive committee at the behest of other partners as well as some junior attorneys in the firm. She felt obligated to provide the firm with a female voice and thought she owed it to the other female attorneys. At other times, it can be a "pull" from above. Several of our interviewees credited women trailblazers for showing that women could do well in leadership positions. Some were even mentored by these pioneers.
A point worth making here is that your mentor doesn't have to be a woman. As Christofferson said, "Your mentor, male or female, should be someone from whom you can learn skills you do not have or are weak on" and who can provide advice when the path does not seem clear.
BE A TRAILBLAZER
Two of our interviewees — Ressler and Greene — were trailblazers themselves, being the first women to attain significant leadership positions in their firms. To what do they attribute their success? We found several common themes among all the women: a) demonstrated leadership; b) asking for what they wanted; and c) knowing when to say "yes" and "no."
• Demonstrate leadership. "At the very start of your career," said Christofferson, "take opportunities to be a leader on a case or a deal." As Greene puts it: "Start early and make your interests known." That is the single most effective way to show you're ready to take on key assignments both on cases and within the firm. Hedgpeth notes the importance of doing excellent work, getting new clients and referrals, and fostering relationships with existing clients. A good stepping stone is to become a department head, suggests Eskenazi. "That is a starting point for key leadership/management roles in most firms."
It is also helpful to raise one's profile outside the firm. Forster served as president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles; Christofferson is co-owner of the WNBA team, the Los Angeles Sparks. This is good publicity for your firm and allows you to rub shoulders with influential community leaders and potential new clients.
• Ask for what you want. As is true in rainmaking, you do not get what you do not ask for. It's all about business development, said Freimann. "To be a successful rainmaker, you need a marketing plan. You need to make pitches and learn to deal with rejection. To advance internally, you need to ask for particular cases and assignments." Fisher, who lateralled into Gibson Dunn five years ago and currently serves on its executive committee, came in as a practice group leader and expressed her interest in serving on committees as soon as she joined the firm. Assertiveness, mixed with capability and confidence, demonstrates you are ready to take on executive roles. As Title puts it, "Just ask."
• Know how and when to say "yes" and "no." This can be tricky. Obviously, lower-level assignments can be meaningful stepping stones. However, one can get stuck and not advance beyond them. Women, therefore, need to learn when to say "no." When menial tasks are identified in the firm and volunteers are sought, resounding silence is usually the response. Forster says women tend to be uncomfortable with that silence, and jump in to volunteer. Women need to change that dynamic. "Silence is not your cue to speak up," said Forster. When a lower-level assignment comes up, Christofferson suggests that women not volunteer themselves but find other ways for the work to get done that will be unique, efficient and marshal resources in a creative, new way.
TIME MANAGEMENT
One of the most important skills to foster to ensure you can be both a successful rainmaker and law firm manager is good time management. To say the hours can be daunting is an understatement. In addition to billing high client hours, both Ressler and Eskenazi spend a significant number of hours on management issues. In Eskenazi's case, it amounts to about 400 hours a year. Title, who spends approximately one-quarter of her time on management activities, says it comes down to knowing how to delegate. Greene notes that the time required for management activities usually comes at the expense of one's personal life, not from one's clients, so you have to be willing to make that sacrifice.
MAKE IT HAPPEN
Despite their time demands, our research shows that rainmaking and managing are not mutually exclusive. In fact, most of the women we interviewed say that the two end up benefiting each other. Though Fisher was primarily motivated by the desire to contribute to Gibson, she now sees that serving on various committees also provides her with a way to perform all kinds of internal marketing, which in turn helps business generation.
Everyone with whom we spoke believes it is definitely possible for women to make it to the top rungs of law firm management if they have the right amount of assertiveness, confidence, determination and lawyering skills. Support — both external and internal — is also key. And you must be willing to ask for what you want. Otherwise, chances are, you will not get it. As Ressler observes, "You need to know how to articulate your needs and make things happen. Most people who achieve leadership positions know how to advocate for themselves."
Courtney Goldstein is a partner in the Southern California office of Major, Lindsey & Africa. She can be reached at 213-689-0718 or cgoldstein@mlaglobal.com. Lisa Munoz is a managing director at MLA. She can be reached at 213-225-0625 or lmunoz@mlaglobal.com.
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