The heightened attention on women’s rights on March 8 as we celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD), serves as an ideal moment to examine how each of us can #BreaktheBias, this year’s IWD theme, that contributes to the gender gap. Calls for greater diversity in Big Law have been prevalent for decades, yet women make up little more than a quarter of partners at 10 of the most prestigious firms on both sides of the Atlantic, according to research by diversity-analytics company Pirical. In the United States, the number of “minority partners” is just 10.9%. In my years as a litigator and now as Co-Chief Operating Officer of the world’s largest legal finance company, I have always been keenly aware of the importance of a diversity of perspectives on business outcomes. This is particularly true in litigation where complex challenges require creative solutions to achieve the best possible outcomes.
GCs and in-house legal departments, as the purchasers of legal services, are ideally placed to help #BreakTheBias and increase diversity in Big Law. There are a number of ways they can do this.
