Women Not Just Leaving Biglaw for Babies, But For More Opportunity

Susan Cartier Liebel posts about how Gen Y women are saying no to biglaw because it doesn’t afford the kind of work life balance they demand.  I’ve posted on and written about this theme before, as well.  But what I don’t think I’ve emphasized sufficiently is that for women, starting a firm isn’t just a great way to accommodate work and family, but it also provides far greater business opportunities than are available at firms to begin with.

Consider this article, Three Longtime Buchanan Shareholders to Start Own Firm , (Legal Intelligencer, 2/7/07), which reports that Mary Kay Brown, Antoinette R. Stone and Jami B. Nimeroff will leave
Buchanan Ingersoll Friday to start their own boutique on Monday.  And here’s one of the reasons:  as a woman-owned business, the firm can qualify for set-asides and capitalize on large corporation’s desires to increase diversity among outside counsel.  In fact, that’s why other  women and minority lawyers have started law firms: to capture new business, either through diversity opportunities or the ability to avoid conflicts.  So despite all of the complaints about glass ceilings at biglaw for women and minorities, from where I sit, there’s never been more opportunity for these groups than now.