Female American in-house counsel are no more likely to reach senior ranks than female counterparts in law firms

Abstract

PurposeThe authors wanted to find out if women in-house lawyers were treated more equitably than their counterparts in law firms and, therefore, reached higher ranks more often.Design/methodology/approachThe authors examined 10 years of data about public companies in the ExecuComp dataset. The information includes name, age, gender, job category and numerous compensation measures. Public companies must report their top five earners. The authors narrowed their focus to 2,154 lawyers of whom 1,851 were men and 303 were women.FindingsAnalysis supported hypothesis 1, showing women are underrepresented in senior legal roles in large corporations. Hypothesis 2, however, was not supported. It was expected that women would be more likely to hold senior positions in female-dominated industries, but this was not the case. Finally, hypothesis 3 was not supported either. It suggested in-house women counsel would earn comparable compensation to their male counterparts. But analysis showed women earned 92.6pc of men earn and their bonuses were only 73.2pc of men’s.Originality/valueThe authors say the research has important practical lessons for companies. Many of the remedies for gender disparities in law firms apply also to in-house counsel, they say. A primary mechanism is to integrate more women into senior leadership positions. This will tend to lead to reductions in compensation disparities, as well as greater accountability and transparency.