Part-time schedules at law firms are growing in popularity as a way of improving recruitment and retention of talented lawyers, but attorneys working reduced hours — predominantly women — remain a fraction of the total population, according to a new survey by the National Association for Law Placement.

At large firms across the nation, 6.4 percent of lawyers were on part-time schedules in 2010, compared with 5 percent in 2006, NALP reported.