"What's the problem?"

In telling a first-year male law student about the launch of Woman, Esq., "surprise" was the least of my emotions when he asked why a blog was needed. "Is there really a problem?"

This question can be excused in part by the fact that women are now close to 50 percent of law school classes--someone still in school might not see much disparity. But it is a reminder that not everyone knows there's a problem, and even those who suspect a problem might not know the details.

For this post, let's start with law firms (but recognize that problems are not limited to them). In November 2008, the National Association of Women Lawyers released its 2008 Survey of Retention and Promotion of Women in Law Firms. This annual report is based on statistics gathered from a survey of the nation's 200 largest law firms (as compiled in American Lawyer and reported in May and June 2007).

Highlights (and lowlights...) of the report include:

• Women start out in equal numbers to men when first entering law firms.
• Women constitute appproximately 45% of the mid-level associates and 44% of the 7th-year associates.
• The percentage of women shrinks at higher positions in the firm:
  34% of-counsel
  27% non-equity partners
  16% equity partners
• Women of color are being hired at the associate level in numbers roughly proportionate to the number graduating from law school (11%).
• The percentage of women of color as law firm partners, equity (1.4%) or non-equity (3%), is very small.

The report also examines the difference in percentage of women partners in one-, two-, and mixed-tier law firms, the effects of lateral movement, and the women's initiative programs that firms have instituted.