STILL BLEAK....

Women still represent only 17% of partners in the nation's major firms, says the New York Times, in an article spotted by Larry Bodine here. It cites the 2005 National Association for Law Placement survey -- and it's only a slight rise since 1995 when the figure was 13%.

Not encouraging news.

Says the NYT: "Although women certainly leave firms to become more actively involved in child-rearing, recent detailed studies indicate that female lawyers often feel pushed into that choice and would prefer to maintain their careers and a family if a structure existed that allowed them to do so."

The article cites a new book from Lauren Stiller Rikleen, right, a partner at Bowditch & Dewey. Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law, from Thomson Legalworks.It argues "that law firms need to reorganize if they want to encourage and retain women as partners, and that roadblocks — whether they be errant mentoring, opaque networking opportunities, low-grade case assignments or arbitrary male control of key management committees — should all be reviewed," noted the NYT.

Hmmmm.... does that sound like a familiar refrain?  Duh! We'll keep on hammering and hammering.