Male lawyers may no longer outnumber female lawyers within 20 years: American Bar Association

Within 20 years, male lawyers may no longer outnumber female lawyers in the US, according to this year’s ABA Profile of the Legal Profession report.

At present, men make up 59 percent of lawyers in the US to the women’s 41 percent, according to the report published by the American Bar Association. However, this percentage reflects a five percentage-point increase from 2014, when the proportion of women in the profession was at 36 percent. 

Reuters reported that in 1970, women represented just 9 percent of law school students. By 2016, women had surpassed men in enrolment at American Bar Association-accredited law schools. By 2023, women accounted for 56 percent of the national law student population. In the same year, 65,000 women were going after juris doctor degrees while just 50,000 men did.

These statistics were among the data points considered by the ABA when they labelled 2016-2026 as the “Decade of the Female Lawyer.” A statement in the report that was published by Reuters indicated that every year, “older, predominantly male lawyers are retiring while younger, predominantly female lawyers are entering the profession.”

In 2023, female associates outnumbered male associates for the first time, according to the National Association for Law Placement. The ABA report noted that this represents a steady annual increase since 1991. However, women remain underrepresented in law firm partnership ranks, constituting only 28 percent of law firm partners in 2023 – which the NALP said was already a peak.

The ABA report also found that in the federal government, women represent nearly 52 percent of attorneys. They also account for 55 percent of the 3,000 attorneys at the US Department of Homeland Security and at least 60 percent of the lawyer workforce in the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labour.

Nonetheless, men make up 54 percent of attorneys at the US Department of Justice, which has the single biggest group of government attorneys.

At ABA-accredited law schools, women comprised 49 percent of full-time faculty in 2023.