Do Women Lawyers Earn as Much as Male Lawyers?

This is a touchy subject among us lawyers and many others in our society today. According to the American Bar Association's Journal, Volume 105, No. 7, September/October 2019, women lawyers earn 36% less than their male counterpart lawyers. Why is that?

The article cites Claudia Golden, an economist at Harvard University who studied the gender pay gap, and according to her there are a number of reasons why this is so. She is quoted in this article as saying “…but it's pretty clear that the proximate cause of the biggest differences that we see has to do with women are on call at home, and men are on call in the office. In other words, because women are expected to be at home more than men, it affect their ability to bring business and clients. (Page 44)

This 36% gap translates to about $79,000 per year differential. The article also states that women earn less than men at every point in their career.