Female Lawyers Leaving Private Practice, Rising In Corporate Law Ranks

More female lawyers are leaving law firms and moving up in the ranks of legal departments, at least in Canada, according to the authors of Breaking Through: Tales From the Top Canadian Women General Counsel. In their book, they cite recent survey findings that in the top 500 Canadian companies with a general counsel, 27 percent of those GC were women. Meanwhile, in the top Canadian private law firms only about 20 percent of partner positions have gone to female attorneys. Intense time demands and a competitive work environment in the firms are among the things driving women to corporate law, Kirby Chown and Carrie Mandel told The Globe and Mail.