Numbers, Schmumbers...

There has been a lively discussion in the blogosphere (See Leiter, Volokh, Armen at De Novo et al.) about the US News rankings and whatnot. I was talking with a friend, an associate in a large D.C.-based, national firm, and she brought up two numbers that I found more stunning than any in the law school admissions debate:

Two years ago, this firm had approximately five-hundred lawyers at its D.C. office. Of the partners, 14 were women. Of those 14 female partners, only 1 (ONE) had children (a child, rather).

Now, part of these stats is generational: there are more women in law schools these days, so the numbers sticking it out in biglaw are likely to gradually go up. But another part, I'd venture (an uncontroversial speculation, I think), is biglaw's work style and culture. They're sacrificing a lot of talent (both male and female, probably) to maintain a work culture that clearly doesn't appeal to many. For myself, I wonder if I will be willing to join that culture for the long-term; for the industry, I wonder when the tipping point will arrive that they simply lose too much talent to sustain their huge billing rates (or will they pre-emptively take "the right" (whatever those are) steps to improve the situation before it reaches that point?).