Shattering the glass ceiling in the legal profession is rapidly becoming the new normal for women lawyers, with big law firms pulling all the stops to plug the so-called leaky pipeline.
A latest analysis done by Vahura, a leading legal recruitment and consultancy firm, shows 33 women lawyers were promoted to partnership roles out of a total of 119 promotions in 2024-25 in the top five law firms. Says Ankita Malik, consultant with Vahura, “This represents a 27.7% female promotion rate. Notable examples include top-tier Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM), which promoted 14 women out of 22 new partners and counsels, representing 63% of the cohort.”
Trilegal, another top rated firm, has promoted seven women out of 11 new partners to equity partnerships while JSA has elevated five women lawyers to retained partnerships. Women make up 20% of reputed law firm Khaitan & Co’s partnership – a 44% year-on-year increase – and 39% of senior management, an 83% growth. “This significant proportion of women promotions underscores the commitment of these firms to fostering diversity within their leadership ranks,” Malik observes.
Pallavi S Shroff, Managing Partner at SAM, says “the firm has taken significant steps over the years to ensure a level-playing field for women lawyers.” Carrying the baton forward, her elder daughter Shweta Shroff Chopra, a Partner in the firm, is a fierce advocate for women’s rights. “At SAM, plugging the leaky pipeline also means building an ecosystem where they can grow, lead, and stay. We’ve worked hard to foster a culture where women lawyers are seen, supported, and stepped up to take up leadership,” she asserts.
A leaky pipeline in the legal industry signifies a phenomenon, typically between 6 to 8 years of women lawyers’ careers, where they are more likely to leave the profession compared to their male counterparts leading to fewer women reaching senior positions like equity partners. Among the main reasons attributed to this are systemic biases and discrimination at the workplace, lack of mentorship and networking opportunities and difficulty accessing senior roles. Statistics reveal that almost 48% of women lawyers either move to in-house corporate jobs which offer a better work life balance or change their field completely.
Opines Akanksha Antil, Vice President, Recruitment and Mentorship at Vahura, “I feel the drive for gender parity should be forced from top down. There should be pressure from the top management for a change in Key Result Areas for gender parity to percolate.”
Says Shroff Chopra, “We understand that different life stages bring different challenges. That’s why we offer three weeks of paternity leave, extended parental leave options until a child turns three, and flexible working arrangements to support working parents in addition to a statutory six-month maternity leave.”
Shroff Chopra says the firm invests deeply in mentoring and consciously ensuring that women are empowered to lead and shape firm strategy wholesomely while ensuring they don’t have to sacrifice their lives outside of work. “Some of our most critical practice groups and client relationships are helmed by women today. The shift is not cosmetic—it’s cultural and ongoing.”
Echoing similar sentiments , Amar Sinhji, Executive Director, KCo also reiterates the firm’s commitment towards fostering gender agnostic talent and going the extra step towards supporting women in its organisation. “Today, the ratio of male and female lawyers is 2:1. These numbers reflect not just intent, but impact! Career breaks don’t break careers at our firm, they are just chapters in a longer, supported journey,” he quips.
KCo has taken several initiatives to provide a level-playing field to women lawyers including flexible parental leave and supportive return to work, no questions asked menstrual leaves, recuperation leave and models like LexFlex, a location agnostic, fixed hours, contract working platform.
Yet another law firm which is going all out to promote gender-agnostic work spaces is JSA. “Our USP has always been our nurturing work environment and an equal opportunity platform,” states Madhurima Mukherjee Saha, equity partner at the firm. “A woman’s biological clock is sometimes in complete conflict with the career timeline. Our focus is to ensure that we give requisite support to our women colleagues when they need it most, especially when they start a family or have young children.”
Snigdha Guha Roy, Partner, M&A at Trilegal, says the firm “has seen me through the most important promotions of my personal life. I became a mother and Partner in the same quarter as the firm made special dispensations to ensure that my pregnancy had no impact on my partnership track by preponing the partnership process for me.”
Industry insiders say the biases against women lawyers are not restricted to their male colleagues but are apparent among litigants too who prefer male lawyers as they are perceived to be more impactful, recognised, and not tied down by family commitments and parenthood. This societal mindset also prevents women lawyers from charging fees equal to their male counterparts.
“What makes the going tougher for women lawyers is the fact that law firms traditionally evaluate performance based on tools such as billable hours and business development,” explains Antil of Vahura. “These performance matrices focus completely on external achievements leaving little room for recognition of internal contributions such as leadership, team building and mentoring, which skews the pitch even more for women,” she adds.