Survey Shows 44 Percent Wage Gap Between Male and Female Law Partners

A recent survey conducted by Major, Lindsey & Africa shows that there is a current 44 percent wage gap between male and female partners in large law firms on a national level.

According to the survey, female partners earned $659,000 on average while male partners earned an average of $949,000. The survey recorded reports from 2,100 law partners total from across the United States. The survey also found that the average compensation for law partners has increased 27 percent over the course of two years, creating an overall partner wage of $877,000 a year.

The reason for the stark pay gap, according to the survey, is that men in large law firms have higher rates of “origination” (the process of bring legal cases to firms). In an article by the New York Times Jeffrey Lowe, the author of the study, stated “We asked partners to pinpoint the factors underlying the pay differences… and the number one factor was origination.”

The average amount of income produced by origination is nearly $2.5 million, according to the survey. “We found that, predominantly, a partner’s compensation is tied to bringing in business to the law firm,” said Lowe in the New York Times’ article. The survey found that women partners brought in an average of $1.7 million in business, while male partners brought in an average of $2.6 million in business. These rates could be influenced by several factors, including a higher number of men in law firms and different networking strategies used among the different genders. The survey also found that the number of hours worked had a significant influence in the annual compensation of law firm partners, but was only secondary to origination.

Annual salary gaps have been narrowing since 2010 according to surveys conducted by Major, Lindsey & Africa. Their reports show:

• The pay gap between male and female law firm partners has decreased by three percent since 2014, when it was 47 percent.
• Average compensation for white partners increased 14 percent from 2010 to 2014, creating an average of $876,000.
• Average compensation for hispanic partners increased by 100 percent from 2010 to 2014, creating an average of $956,000.
• Average compensation for African American partners increased by 39 percent from 2010 to 2014, creating an average of $797,000.
• Average compensation for Asian-Pacific partners increased 36 percent from 2010 to 2014, creating an average of $875,000.