To say that 2020 was a historical year is an understatement. The COVID-19 pandemic forced people across the world to stay home and the legal industry transitioned almost overnight to 100% remote work. Layered on top of the pandemic were politically charged events. The highly televised murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, sparked prolonged protests across the United States causing the country to reexamine the systematic racism embedded in our society and especially in the legal industry.

In that same year, the United States elected its first woman vice president, Kamala Harris, who is also the first Black and Indian Vice President. In addition to the election of Kamala Harris, the United States elected its first openly transgender state senator and two openly gay Black men into Congress. These social and political changes in 2020 impacted everyone, but specifically highlighted gender-specific issues and the imperative changes that the legal industry, an industry that is traditionally slow to respond to change, must make. With all of these highlighted issues, many of us expected 2020 to be a watershed year for women in law where these gender and diversity issues would dramatically improve; however, an examination of these issues shows that, while we are all more aware of the challenges that women face, the implementation of policies that support inclusive environments is still a work in progress.

2020 Impact From the Lens of Women in the Legal Profession