Why Do Clients Prefer a Woman Attorney?

Many studies have shown that women lawyers outperform men as lawyers, even though they still earning about 20 percent less pay across the board.  Miami-based analytics firm Premonition AI recently ran the biggest the largest scale study on gender in law that was ever done, and found that women outperform men at every level of practice.  The verdicts were higher and the clients were more satisfied across the Board.  Premonition reports that according to its data, “Women partners win 12% more than their male colleagues and Women associates win 3% more than their male colleagues.”

Susan Hackett reports for The American Bar Association (ABA) Journal, that companies are valuing the skills that women lawyers bring such as “the ability to accommodate and collaborate, the ability to lead teams, the ability to look for different kinds of solutions.”  Women tend to be less adversarial and better able to negotiate.  Their ability to work better in teams means that cases are more properly prepared.  That’s probably why clients prefer a woman attorney to handle their case.

A woman run Buffalo Labor Law Firm, Schröder, Joseph & Associates, LLP  runs an advertisement which asks, “Ever Argue With A Woman,” claiming that women are much more meticulous, patient and persistent in making a case.  A 2000 UCLA study concluded that, when facing stress, men have a “fight or flight” reaction, and women  “tend and befriend.”  Women tend to be cooler under pressure, more able to work a situation towards a positive conclusion, without wasting their client’s money on unnecessary fighting.  Studies also show that women are better at reading faces and emotions than men, which means that they are better able to tell if somebody is lying or telling the truth.  They are also better at connecting with their clients and helping them to prepare testimony.

There are so many reasons why clients prefer a woman attorney, yet the pay gap at large firms still persists, with most woman attorneys stuck in associate positions and not getting a partnership.   This could simply be that the current partners, mostly male, are more comfortable with a boys club at the top, and are not ready to let more women join the Club.

If you are looking for a lawyer to represent you, you are in a position to consider why clients prefer a women attorney and make your own decision.  If you are hiring an attorney to represent you for a serious injury  or for sexual harassment women attorneys tend to be the better choice.