Women make up majority of law firm associates for the first time: "Real change is slow."

Women now make up the majority of associates in U.S. law firms for the first time, according to data released Tuesday by the National Association for Law Placement, which first began tracking law firm data in 1991.

In 2023, women comprised 50.31% of law associates in the U.S. They also reported greater strides at the partnership level, but still make up only 27.76% of all partners — a 1.1% increase from the previous year.

"NALP began tracking law firm diversity data in 1991, 121 years after the first woman graduated law school in the United States. At that time, women accounted for only a little over 38% of law firm associates," said NALP's Executive Director, Nikia L. Gray. 

"It took another thirty-two years for women to achieve equal, and just slightly greater, representation among associates – 153 years in total. Real change is slow, hard, and imperceptible, but it does happen." 

Additionally, 2023 also saw the largest yearly increase in the percentage of associates of color, a demographic that grew 1.8 percentage points from the previous year, rising to 30.15%. 

For the first time since NALP started its firm data collection, Black and Latina women each accounted for at least 1% of all law firm partners, but women of color still account for less than 5% of total partners. 

"Although reporting of gender non-binary lawyers remains limited since NALP first began collecting data in 2020, the figure has grown each year," read the report. 

Law firms in 2023 reported 79 non-binary lawyers and 27 non-binary summer associates, compared to just 42 non-binary lawyers and 17 non-binary summer associates in the previous year. 

Gray said that, while this progress is a step in the right direction, there is still much work to be done.

"This year's story is one of fragile progress when overlayed with the implications of the wider political, legal, and social changes that are occurring," she said. 

"It will take courage, resolve, and creativity for us to find our way through the storm we are facing and continue making progress, but I am confident in the NALP community and our ability to do so," she added.

In:
• Women
• Lawmakers

C Mandler

C Mandler is a social media producer and trending topics writer for CBS News, focusing on American politics and LGBTQ+ issues.