Note: This is an edited excerpt from an article written by Karen Stringer in the Fall 2020 Women in the Profession newsletter. To read the newsletter, click here (login required).
With a surge of women-owned law firms opening in New Jersey and across the country in the last 10-15 years, I wanted to determine the driving forces behind this trend to see what, if anything, these firms were doing differently.
On my quest, I was lucky enough to have had some amazing and thought-provoking discussions with a number of courageous, intelligent women who have bucked BigLaw, ventured out on their own, and started their own thriving, multidisciplinary law firms. These women include: Suzanne M. Cerra and Katherin Nukk-Freeman of Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, P.C.; Jeralyn Lawrence of Lawrence Law; Nicole D. Galli of the Law Offices of N.D. Galli LLC; and Helen Oscislawski of Oscislawski LLC.
As a starting point, I was keenly aware of the sobering statistics that I’m sure most of you have seen regarding women’s access to the top echelons of BigLaw. Among these are the annual results of a survey conducted by the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), which, unfortunately, seem to indicate that the needle hasn’t moved very far with respect to women representation in equity partnership and leadership roles.
Indeed, according to NAWL’s 2019 study, only about 20% of all equity partners are women, even though women make up about 47% of all associates. The 20% figure has held steady for the last three years. Women also continue to make up a quarter or less of firm leadership positions, with women “largely unrepresented as firm managing partners.”
With these disheartening results, it’s not surprising that many talented women have gone on to forge their own paths outside of the more traditional BigLaw route. These women are now creating their own firms, with their own rules and their own culture.
While the specific reasons for leaving BigLaw, unsurprisingly, varied from person to person, there were some common threads. Almost everyone I spoke with highlighted and credited, in part, their move out of BigLaw to their entrepreneurial spirit. Many women noted that they actually thought about making the move earlier in their careers but felt hesitant to do so until they had a better understanding of what it took to run a law firm, as opposed to just practicing at one.
Aside from this entrepreneurial spirit, the women I spoke with seemed driven to do something different from what they had seen happening in BigLaw. For some, firm culture was key. For others, it was a matter of having more flexibility and time to focus on the things they cared about most at the office, whether it was their clients and colleagues or a particular focus of law.
Galli is also the founder and president of Women Owned Law, a national networking organization with a particularly strong presence in the Northeast corridor dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs in the legal profession.
Interestingly, and consistent with the stories Galli has heard from members of her 150-plus strong member organization, Women Owned Law, women are not citing work-life balance as the reason for leaving BigLaw. As Galli notes, the media’s persistent attribution of work-life balance as the reason for the flight of women from BigLaw is just “masking the problem going on in the workplace.” Galli said she doesn’t know a single woman who has started a firm in the last 10-15 years who has cited work-life balance as the reason for venturing out on her own. Instead, what she hears women talking about is a desire for more flexibility and autonomy as well as the ability to be more innovative.
Whatever the exact reasons might be, there was another common thread that I heard in everyone’s stories: there are no regrets. Indeed, the women with whom I spoke all reported a high level of satisfaction with their substantive work, client relationships and colleagues.