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Latin American law firms are taking steps to promote greater gender equity, but progress at partner level continues to be frustratingly slow and firms must dig deeper to tackle unconscious bias in the talent pipeline in order to rebalance the scales.

When Latin Lawyer first started tracking gender diversity at Latin American law firms nearly a decade ago, the survey in 2013 found that 49% of associates at Latin Lawyer 250 were women. In the leadership of the same firms, only a fifth of partner positions were held by female lawyers.

Luckily, the figures have changed since then, but unfortunately not by much.

Latin Lawyer’s 2022 research found that on average Latin Lawyer 250 firms (only Elite and Highly Recommended counted) have an even split between men and women in their overall headcounts. At the partnership level, however, female lawyers make up 25% on average – a scant increase of five percentage points in nine years.

Firms have developed plenty of policies addressing gender diversity over the years. According to our survey, the most widely established policy is flexitime for lawyers. Besides that, nearly half of outfits say they have committees for women, while almost 45% have mentoring programmes in place for female lawyers.

Providing the right training and support for talented lawyers on their way to the partnership is key to prepare them for leadership roles. Given that the age at which many lawyers are considered for a partnership position coincides with the age in which women also tend to start a family, firms must ensure they have a model and culture in place that supports women and men in their dual career and family responsibilities. “At partner level, you start losing female lawyers,” says Gómez-Pinzón partner Natalia García Arenas. “It’s a shame, because you’ve trained them for so long.” In many cases, according to García, it’s likely a combination of family factors and burnouts, making female lawyers think law firms are not for them. “You need women to want to become partners, and as a firm you need the policies to accommodate that,” García argues.

Law firm role models can help facilitate the process. “It gives young lawyers more confidence and also shows that a firm as an institution can have female partners,” says García.

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