“Data from each of our five biennial surveys showed stark differences in average compensation between men and women. In our 2018 study, we took a much deeper dive into the gender pay gap to better understand what factors were contributing to this difference.”
Spoiler alert: Biglaw’s compensation model plays a big role. The survey indicated men are getting a lot more origination credit than women at Biglaw firms, as men reported an average of $2,788,000 in originations, compared to a $1,589,000 average reported by women. There was also a disparity in average billing rates, with men reporting an average hourly rate of $736, compared with $650 for women. And those two factors make up almost ~75 percent in the difference in overall compensation:
“Our findings show that originations and billing rates together were responsible for nearly 75% of the overall variation in compensation across all partners who responded to this survey,” said Lucy Leach, Technical Researcher Director of Acritas. “While the data doesn’t suggest a conscious bias against women, it does suggest that the predominant compensation model in BigLaw today, which heavily rewards partners for their originations and hourly rates, may fail to recognize other contributions to firms and may be putting women at a disadvantage.”
Looks like all those pay gap discrimination lawsuits have yet to make a real change in the industry.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).
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