Derewicz said she wouldn't expect women to constitute 50 percent of the state's law firm population, but she said she was surprised to see it was "barely more than a quarter." She said there could be a number of reasons for that, but said she hoped it wasn't because women felt they couldn't succeed in a law firm environment.
ACROSS THE BOARD
The percentage of female lawyers in the Pennsylvania offices of the state's largest firms range from Rubin Fortunato's high of 52.4 percent to a low of 6.9 percent at Powell Trachtman Logan Carrle & Lombardo.
After Rubin Fortunato and Littler Mendelson, the next firms on the ranking of women attorneys are Willig Williams & Davidson, Lavin O'Neil Ricci Cedrone & DiSipio and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
The size of the firm seems to have little to do with the percentage of women within it.
The top 10 firms in terms of overall lawyer headcount in Pennsylvania have an interesting division, however. The top five firms -- Reed Smith, Pepper Hamilton, Morgan Lewis, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney and Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin -- come in above the state's average percentage of female attorneys. Conversely, the next five on our list -- Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, Cozen O'Connor, Blank Rome, Fox Rothschild and K&L Gates come in under the 28.5 percent average. Only one of those top 10 firms in terms of overall headcount, however, was able to make it into the top 30 when it came to ranking firms by percentages of women attorneys.
Morgan Lewis ranked fifth on the list, with 39.32 percent of its 295 Pennsylvania lawyers who are women. The firm has 21 female partners, 91 female associates and four female of counsel.
Nearly 29.5 percent of Reed Smith's 312 Pennsylvania lawyers are women, with the majority of those in the associate category. The firm was ranked 40th for those results. Coming in right behind at 41st was Pepper Hamilton. More than 29.3 percent of its 307 Pennsylvania lawyers are women, including 21 partners, 63 associates and six of counsel. Buchanan Ingersoll ranked 33rd, with women constituting 31.1 percent of its 270 Pennsylvania attorneys. Marshall Dennehey was 37th on the list, with women totaling 30.04 percent of the firm's 253 lawyers in the state.
Of the 241 lawyers in Eckert Seamans' Pennsylvania offices, 24.9 percent are women, placing the firm 56th on the list. Cozen O'Connor ranked 63rd with women making up 23.42 percent of its 222 attorneys in Pennsylvania. Blank Rome ranked 66th, with women constituting 23.22 percent of its 211 Pennsylvania lawyers.
Fox Rothschild and K&L Gates, which finish off the top 10 list of the largest law firms in Pennsylvania, were ranked 72nd and 71st, respectively, when it came to the percentage of women working in their Pennsylvania offices. At Fox Rothschild, 21.53 percent of the firm's 209 lawyers in the state are women. At K&L Gates, 21.63 percent of the firm's 208 Pennsylvania lawyers are women.
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