By many measures, women lawyers have made great progress over the past several decades. Increasing numbers of women lawyers are reaching the highest pinnacles of the profession. For example, women justices now make up one-third of the U.S. Supreme Court. Also, more than 30 percent of federal and state appellate judges are women. Here in Pennsylvania, women represent two-thirds of the Superior Court, more than one-half of the Commonwealth Court and almost half of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Five of the 14 chancellors of the Philadelphia Bar Association since 2000 have been women.
Women lawyers are also making strides in the corporate sphere. Indeed, the number of women general counsel at Fortune 500 companies is at an all-time high, as their percentage has more than doubled since 1999 to more than 21 percent. Likewise, the number of women serving as law school deans has climbed above 20 percent.
