Women continue to make a substantial mark in the legal profession: In 2023, for the first time, a majority of law firm associates were women — and 41% of all U.S. lawyers are women with that number growing slowly every year, according to the newly released 2024 ABA Profile of the Legal Profession.
November 18, 2024 Profile of the Profession
New report spotlights rise of women lawyers
The sixth annual report is a compilation of statistics and trends about lawyers, judges and law students. This year’s report covers five areas: lawyer demographics, lawyer wages, judges, legal education and women in the profession. The statistics are drawn from authoritative sources within the ABA and from courts, government agencies and nonprofit groups.
The new chapter of this year’s report took a close look at women in the law. It revealed:
- 56.2% of law school students are women, outnumbering men in law school attendance, and the gap is growing every year.
- Since 2020, a majority of the 44,000 general lawyers in the executive branch of the federal government have been women.
- Starting this year or next year, women probably will be a majority of full-time faculty members in ABA-accredited law schools.
- In 2023, just 28% of law firm partners were women, but that percentage is slowly growing every year.
Among other report findings:
- One out of every four lawyers in the United States are in just two states: New York and California.
- The percentage of lawyers of color in the United States nearly doubled in the past decade. It is now 23%.
- 4.6% of all lawyers in U.S. law firms identify as LGBTQ. The percentage is higher for associates (6.8%) and even higher for summer associates (11.7%).
- The number of new law school graduates joining law firms after graduation is higher than ever: 53%. The number getting jobs in the business sector has been falling.
- Graduates of ABA-accredited law schools pass the bar exam at a much higher rate than those who attend non-ABA-approved law schools, or law schools outside the U.S. or those who studied in law offices.
- There were 1,457 sitting Article III federal judges as of Aug. 1, 2024, and they were overwhelmingly male (67%) and white (74%). But their diversity is changing, especially in recent years.
- The average annual lawyer salary shot up 19.2% from 2021 to 2023 — the biggest two-year leap this century. It is now $176,470.