The Introduction to the Statement of Goals acknowledges the discrepancy between those women entering the legal profession and those achieving full participation in it - in short, women are underrepresented at every level of the profession with the exception of the entry level. Over the past two decades, women have entered the legal profession in increasing numbers. The U.S. Department of Labor has reported that, in 1980, women represented 12 percent of all lawyers. By 1990, the number of women lawyers had risen to 182,745 or 24.4 percent of all lawyers. In 1991, women comprised 42 percent of law school enrollment and 37 percent of associates at the 250 largest law firms in the nation.
Women continue to be underrepresented at the higher levels of the profession.
In 1981, 23.9 percent of associates and 2.8 percent of partners at the largest law firms were women. In 1991, while women comprised 37 percent of associates at the largest law firms, they comprised only 11 percent of partners at those firms. 2 Of those who have graduated from law school since 1967, only 18 percent of the women are partners or executives, compared with 45 percent of the men. It is difficult to account for the discrepancy between the number of men and women entering the profession and those achieving full participation in the profession. As leaders of the Philadelphia legal community, the signatories can and must ensure that the attitudes and practices at law firms and legal departments promote the full representation and participation of women at all ranks of the profession.