Sugarman Attorney LeBlanc Co-Chairs Equality Commission
May 02, 2007
Boston— The MIT Workplace Center, in collaboration with representatives of the Women’s Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, and the Boston Bar Association, released a report on May 2, 2007, entitled Women Lawyers and Obstacles to Leadership, a groundbreaking examination of the significant disparity in partnership rates among men and women lawyers in Massachusetts.
Among the representatives on the Commission is Sugarman principal Marianne LeBlanc, co-chair of the Commission and past president of the Women’s Bar Association (2004-2005), who took a leading role in establishing the Commission during her tenure as president of the WBA.
Based on a survey of 1,000 lawyers from Massachusetts’ 100 largest firms, the report finds that 31 percent of female associates left private practice compared to 18 percent of male associates. Among associates with children, the gap widens to 35 percent versus 15 percent. The high dropout rate among women lawyers can be attributed to a combination of demanding hours, inflexible schedules, lack of realistic part-time options, emphasis on billable hours, and failure by law firms to value career paths that may alternate between work and family, the report found.
The Equality Commission was created following a challenge in 2003 by the Hon. Nancy Gertner, U.S. District Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to “create a Commission that will not just count the numbers and congratulate us, but ask why women are leaving and when, [and] why there are fewer women litigators in federal court...”
Marianne LeBlanc is a past president of the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts, and chaired the Civil Litigation Section of the Massachusetts Bar Association from 2001 to 2002. She has served for several years on the Board of Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys, and also currently serves as Massachusetts State Delegate for the American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA). She has published numerous articles, and presents frequently at MCLE and the Massachusetts Bar Association, among other venues. In addition, LeBlanc has played a leadership role in numerous community organizations, including the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts and The Support Committe for Battered Women. She joined Sugarman in 1993 and has been a principal of the firm since 2000.
Sugarman, established in 1967, is the largest personal injury law firm in Massachusetts. Recognized for its leadership in law, advocacy, and education, the firm handles a range of civil litigation, including medical malpractice, premises and product liability, construction site accidents, fire and explosion litigation, and motor vehicle accidents. Many of the firm’s cases have established important legal precedents at the appellate level.