Part Time Lawyers Remain the Exception at Law Firms, Although Increases are Noted

The number of part time attorneys increased in 2010 to 6.4 percent.  The majority are women, however the number of men practicing part time increased in a recent survey.  The National Association of Law Placement (NALP) survey showed a jump in the ranks of part timers from 5 percent in 2006 to 6.4 percent in the recent survey.  Part time positions are dominated by women attorneys, 88 percent of part time associates and 64 percent of part time partners are women.  The proportion  of male attorneys working part time increased by 70 percent  over the past four years, with 2.9 percent  of all male attorneys now working part time.

There are wide regional variations in these numbers as well.  Seattle, Portland, Sacramento, San Diego and San Francisco have the highest percentages of part time partners, between 7 and 9.7 percent.  Those numbers drop significantly in Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New York.

The NALP survey shows the percentages of part time attorneys in all roles and contrasts the numbers of women and men working part time in this chart:

Other professions and the workforce at large have more than twice as many people in part time positions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Nearly 14 percent of all workers and 13.5 percent of those working in professional specialties such as physicians, engineers and architects, serve in part time roles.

Source:

National Association of Law Placement