The ABA Task Force on Gender Equity sponsored an Oct. 24 forum at Seyfarth Shaw LLP in Dearborn, Chicago in order to address some of these issues. Titled “Do We Understand the Pay Gap and How to Fix It?” the event was moderated by Laurel Bellows, principle at Bellows Law Group. Bellows is also the immediate past president of the ABA and co-chairwoman of the Task Force on Gender Equality.

The event was also sponsored by Chicago Bar Association Alliance for Women, DirectWomen, the Illinois State Bar Association on Women and the Law and the National Association of Women Lawyers.

Bellows said gender inequality is not always blatant, conscious or even intentional, but is nonetheless still a pressing matter in the legal field. Simply put, women do not make as much as men for comparable work. And, there are still some men and women alike that are unaware of the bias, she said.

Specifically, nearly half of those coming out of law schools are female graduates, but only 15% of equity partners in the top 200 firms are women.

“That is just too small a number,” she said. “Now we ask, ‘why?’ What can we do about it?”

Moreover, she said women equity partners, in the instances they do hold the position, only make 89 cents on the dollar compared to men. This number accounts for differences in personal decisions and actual hours worked. “This is apples to apples,” Bellows said.

There are a number of obstacles to navigate. Bellows said law firms will often hide how compensation decisions are made and discourage employees from discussing their pay. Further, studies point to evidence that women who vocally seek increased pay come off as “greedy and self-promoting” compared to male counterparts.

She also noted that when a man wins a motion, however small or even uncontested, it is normal he brags. That bravado is generally well received. Women are less inclined to exhibit that same bravado, likely due to fear of being criticized, thus devaluing, in a sense, legal victories. But ultimately, women can still find avenues to fair pay.

“Women and men handle things differently. There is no right or wrong,” she said. Part of the message the task force is trying to convey is that there are a multitude of ways to get noticed and fairly compensated.

The good news is that there are ways to combat structural bias. She said some of the gender bias is not always intentional and it can be remedied. “It’s not genetic,” she said. “It’s curable.”

She said it is her hope that this could be accomplished without the heavy hand of mandates and legislation. She would like to see the culture of the legal field change its course and put more women in a position to affect change.

One publication put out by the task force— “What You Need to Know About Negotiating Compensation”— focused on strategies women could use to help level the playing field. One strategy is to simply know and understand the structural biases in a law firm, as well as relevant cultural beliefs and existing policies.

Some long-term strategies include making a career development plan and enumerating the skills needed to execute the plan. Keep a “brag book” that will handily list important accomplishments. This will make self-evaluations easier. Also, identifying others who might be able to advocate for you and cultivating relationships with them will be mutually beneficial. Lastly, help other women.

“More than as allies, women should be alert to the benefits of promoting qualified women colleagues for leadership roles in their firms and supporting women colleagues generally,” the report finds. “The greater the number of women on the major governing committees of your firm, the less impact second generation gender issues will have on women generally because these issues are more likely to be recognized and addressed.”

Dan Sabbatino is an award winning journalist whose accolades include a New York Press Association award for a series of articles he wrote dealing with a small upstate town’s battle over the implications of letting a “big-box” retailer locate within its borders. He has worked as a reporter and editor since 2007 primarily covering state and local politics for a number of Capital Region publications, including The Legislative Gazette.