Gender Gap Persists Among Lead Trial Counsel

When it comes to lead trial counsel, the gender divide shows no signs of going away.

Men remain much more likely to take on the role of lead trial counsel, and women are far less likely than men to be lead counsel in contract, tort, labor and intellectual property cases, according to the study prepared for the American Bar Association and based on a random sampling of cases filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois in 2013.

In civil matters, men act as lead counsel in 76 percent of cases. Put another way, men are three times ...