Gordon said she felt the next decade would be telling as national trends indicate a majority of students entering law school across the country are now women. But in Utah, the number of women students has not yet overtaken the number of men. Forty percent of this year's University of Utah College of Law graduates are women, said Associate Dean of Admissions Reyes Aguilar. Brigham Young University's law school graduated 51 women and 109 men this year. But we have been pretty stable over the past years.
Women are generally about one-third of our class.
Conflicts between work and family are the greatest barriers to women's advancement, the ABA study said. Client expectations of instant responsiveness and total availability, coupled with lawyers' expectations of spiraling salaries, have pushed working hours to new and often excessive levels. A wide gap persists between formal policies and accepted practices. Although more than 90 percent of surveyed law firms allow part- time schedules, only about 3 to 4 percent of lawyers actually use them, the study said. Many women feel any reduction in hours or availability would jeopardize their prospects for advancement, according to the study.