Womens History Month

Women’s History Month

What Is the Relevance of Gender in the Law Today?

BY JESSICA HALL, ESQ., AND KRISTINA BADALIAN, ESQ.

What is the relevance of gender in the law today? On March 13, 2026, the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) and the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland (WBA) collaborated to answer this question. The MSBA and WBA jointly presented a program in recognition of Women’s History Month: “Resilient Voices, Enduring Impact,” held at McNamee Hosea. This one-day program featured speakers Professor Lisa Mebane, Managing Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution and the Women, Leadership & Equality Program at the University of Maryland School of Law; Amanda Lee Costley, Esq., The Lee Consultants; Sefa Mawuli, CFP, Jade & Cowry; and Tacy Paul Roby, CFP, Tribridge Financial. Natasha Nazareth, Esq., Sharon Johnson, Esq., and Jessica Hall, Esq. helped MSBA’s Associate Director of Member Engagement, Angela Munro, plan and execute this event.

While the wba celebrates the achievements of successful femaleidentified lawyers across a variety of practice areas and leadership roles in the legal field, there is more work to be done.

While the WBA celebrates the achievements of successful female-identified lawyers across a variety of practice areas and leadership roles in the legal field, there is more work to be done. Today, more women than men enter the legal profession. There remains a significant pay disparity between genders and a disparity between men and women in leadership roles. In the past 20 years, the gender pay gap has only slightly narrowed despite the substantial increase in women entering the legal field.

Our joint program provided an assessment of the current state of women in the law and discussed how women lawyers can continue to build financial success and secure leadership roles in the legal field, considering our past gains and current challenges. Our speakers provided resources to help our attendees address the challenges unique to women in the law with an emphasis on MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 8 ISSUE 1

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Women’s History Month

What Is the Relevance of Gender in the Law Today?

BY JESSICA HALL, ESQ., AND KRISTINA BADALIAN, ESQ.

What is the relevance of gender in the law today? On March 13, 2026, the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) and the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland (WBA) collaborated to answer this question. The MSBA and WBA jointly presented a program in recognition of Women’s History Month: “Resilient Voices, Enduring Impact,” held at McNamee Hosea. This one-day program featured speakers Professor Lisa Mebane, Managing Director of the Center for Dispute Resolution and the Women, Leadership & Equality Program at the University of Maryland School of Law; Amanda Lee Costley, Esq., The Lee Consultants; Sefa Mawuli, CFP, Jade & Cowry; and Tacy Paul Roby, CFP, Tribridge Financial. Natasha Nazareth, Esq., Sharon Johnson, Esq., and Jessica Hall, Esq. helped MSBA’s Associate Director of Member Engagement, Angela Munro, plan and execute this event.

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While the wba celebrates the achievements of successful femaleidentified lawyers across a variety of practice areas and leadership roles in the legal field, there is more work to be done.

While the WBA celebrates the achievements of successful female-identified lawyers across a variety of practice areas and leadership roles in the legal field, there is more work to be done. Today, more women than men enter the legal profession. There remains a significant pay disparity between genders and a disparity between men and women in leadership roles. In the past 20 years, the gender pay gap has only slightly narrowed despite the substantial increase in women entering the legal field.

Our joint program provided an assessment of the current state of women in the law and discussed how women lawyers can continue to build financial success and secure leadership roles in the legal field, considering our past gains and current challenges. Our speakers provided resources to help our attendees address the challenges unique to women in the law with an emphasis on

As the number of women entering the legal field outpaces that of men, the percentage of women in leadership positions at law firms has failed to keep pace with progress toward equality in other areas of legal employment. financial success, leadership development, and building community through mentorship. The program included mentorship roundtables where our participants engaged in lively discussions of “negotiating compensation and benefits” and “polishing their LinkedIn profile.” Our afternoon concluded with a community service “Happy Hour” where the attendees made “birthday kits” to benefit women in Prince George’s County through the incredible work of SHE Suite, a community resource hub run by Tamika Paige, Latoya Burch, and Latoya Ball.

In the last 20 years, the number of women in the legal profession has risen dramatically, but the change was slow.

The American Bar Association (ABA) notes that for the first time in 2016, women became a majority of law school students; in 2020, women became a majority of general lawyers in the federal government; in 2023, women became a majority of law firm associates, and in 2024 or 2025, women became a majority of full-time law school faculty members.1 Women still lag behind men in representation in leadership positions in the legal field, the judiciary, and as partners in law firms. Progress has been slow.

As the number of women entering the legal field outpaces that of men, the percentage of women in leadership positions at law firms has failed to keep pace with progress toward equality in other areas of legal employment.

Nationally, 41% of practicing lawyers today are women.2 Beginning in 2019, the number of women enrolled in law schools across the country exceeded the number of men, and that gap has continued to widen each year. The University of Maryland Carey School of Law reported that the 1-L class of 2025 was 59% women,3 as compared to 55% nationally.4 In January of 2024, the National Association for Law Placement announced that, for the first time, law firms reported that women outnumbered men as associates.5 That same year, 2023, when women outnumbered their male colleagues as law firm associates, only 28% of law firm partners were women.6 The number of women managing partners nationally is only 12%!7 Similarly, only 28% of governance committee members are female, and only 27% of practice group leaders are female.8 In 2021, just 34% of general counsels at Fortune 1000 companies were female (doubled since 2004).9

1 America Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession 2024: Women in the Legal Profession, www.americanbar.org/news/profile-legal-profession/women/ 2 American Bar Association, 2025 National Lawyer Population Survey, www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/news/2025/2performed025performed-natllawyer-population-survey.pdf 3 University of Maryland, Francis King Carey School of Law, www.law.umaryland.edu/admissions--aid/fast-facts/ 4 America Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession 2024: Women in the Legal Profession, www.americanbar.org/news/profile-legal-profession/women/ 5 Id. 6 Id. 7 Id. 8 Id. 9 Danielle Braff, Still They Rise, ABA Journal, June 1, 2025, www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/still-they-rise

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Within this population of women who work at law firms, there are notable discrepancies between men and women in their reported rates of job satisfaction, their sense of receiving recognition for their work, and their perceptions of their own opportunities for advancement in the workplace. Men report more positive feelings in these areas by more than 20% more than their female colleagues.10 Based on this information, it is not surprising that many female lawyers leave the legal field mid-career. While male attorneys at law firms reported feeling that their firms treated women fairly, their female counterparts disagreed.11 The primary reasons women cite for leaving the field include lack of support, lack of opportunities for advancement, and low job satisfaction.12 An ABA report described female lawyers as leaving the law because they felt as if they perform more work than their male colleagues for lower pay, and that compensation systems at their firms were “blatantly unfair” and “rife with gender bias.”13 There continues to be a significant discrepancy in pay between male and female lawyers. In general, as of 2024, women [still] “earned an average of 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.14 In 2003, women earned 81% as much as men.” The pay gap narrowed by only 4% in 20 years. Specifically for attorneys, in 2024, the average pay for male partners at law firms was still 29% higher than that of female partners.15 In our state of Maryland, women hold approximately 47% of the over 300 state-level judicial positions in the Supreme Court of Maryland, the Appellate Courts of Maryland, the Circuit Courts, and the District Courts. That is well above the national average.16 As a point of comparison, women comprise only 33% of Article III federal judges as of August 1, 2024, and 43% of state supreme court justices.17 Another example of how Maryland is at the forefront in gender equality in the legal field can be seen in the composition of our MSBA Executive Committee and WBA Executive Board. Our board currently comprises six board members who head their own law firms, four board members who hold leadership positions in state agencies, and the Maryland Director of a large malpractice insurance company. The MSBA Executive Committee is majority female as of 2025–2026. The leaders in our organizations embody the progress that we would like to see reflected throughout the legal workplace.

In addition, the wba and msba can take an active role in advocating for legislative policies that impact women in our community. It is incumbent on lawyers everywhere to challenge legislative efforts to roll back women’s rights.

So now what? Particularly for those of us in Maryland, what can the MSBA and WBA do to move us forward in terms of equity in the legal profession?18 The major barriers to progress for women lawyers are compensation disparities, discrepancies in parental leave, and lack of women in leadership positions. Mentorship relationships and communities create a space for women to learn from each other and exchange strategies and techniques for increasing compensation and navigating workplace biases.

The recent Women’s History Month program was designed to engage participants in discussions about compensation, salary negotiation, and marketing. Opportunities like these are important for promoting women’s success in all practice settings, especially private practice.

At all levels of the WBA, the organization provides mentorship opportunities to promote discussion and growth.

The Montgomery County Chapter provides mentorship to firstgeneration high school students who aspire to become lawyers.

The Baltimore Carroll Chapter creates mentorship relationships with Maryland law students through its annual resume workshops. The WBA and its local chapters aim to provide networking opportunities for members to create referral networks and help each other grow their businesses. We need

10 America Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession 2024: Women in the Legal Profession, www.americanbar.org/news/profile-legal-profession/women/ 11 Id. 12 Women Leaving Law, Baker Donelson, www.bakerdonelson.com/webfiles/Bios/Women-Leaving-Law-Final.pdf 13 Debra Cassens Weiss, Why do female lawyers leave law firms? ‘Blatantly unfair’ compensation often cited, new ABA report says, ABA Journal, May 3, 2021, wpay discrepancyww.abajournal.com/news/article/why-do-female-lawyers-leave-law-firms-blatantly-unfair-compensation-often-cited-aba-report-says 14 Richard Fry & Carolina Aragao, Gender pay gap in U.S. has narrowed slightly over 2 decades, Pew Research Center, March 4, 2025, www.pewresearch.org/shortreads/2025/03/04/gender-pay-gap-in-us-has-narrowed-slightly-over-2-decades 15 Danielle Braff, Still They Rise, ABA Journal, June 1, 2025, www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/still-they-rise 16 Judges Currently Serving in the State of Maryland, www.courts.state.md.us/sites/default/files/import/hr/pdfs/judges_list_external.pdf 17 America Bar Association, Profile of the Legal Profession 2024: Women in the Legal Profession, www.americanbar.org/news/profile-legal-profession/women/ 18 To be clear, while there is gender disparity in general, nowhere is that disparity more pronounced than when considering black women and other women of color.

This disparity should be more rigorously examined, but some statistics indicate that women of color constitute 17.54% of law firm associates but only 4.89% of law firm partners. While female lawyers as a whole earn 85% of what their male counterparts earn, black women earn approximately 64% in the same comparison. See National Women’s Law Center, Fact Sheet 2018; New Orleans Bar Association, “Achieving Gender Pay Equity in the Legal Profession,” Mar. 12, 2022, www.neworleansbar. org/?pg=news&blAction=showEntry&blogEntry=70019

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to continue to look for opportunities to mentor those of us currently in the legal profession and those who are coming up behind us.

In addition, the WBA and MSBA can take an active role in advocating for legislative policies that impact women in our community. It is incumbent on lawyers everywhere to challenge legislative efforts to roll back women’s rights. The WBA annually hosts a legislative reception that provides our members with a forum to connect with our state legislators and advocate for policies important to women in the law and the community as a whole. The WBA is an important voice that challenges laws targeting reproductive rights, laws jeopardizing access to services for transgender women and girls, and laws attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Finally, the WBA and MSBA benefit from a diverse membership, including male and female lawyers in both private practice and government; judges and elected officials; and law school students. Our organizations can continue to work together to create spaces for all our members to come together to maintain the honor and integrity of the legal profession, assist in the administration of justice, promote and advance the interests of women engaged in the practice of law, and advance the status of women in society. At no time has this mission been more pressing or more urgent than it is now.

____________ Kristina Badalian is a founding Partner at Grover & Badalian, LLC and represents clients in divorce and custody cases throughout Maryland. She has litigated complex cases involving the validity and enforceability of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, child abuse and alienation, alimony, division of property, monetary awards and attorney’s fees.

Jessica Hall is a Deputy Bar Counsel for the Maryland Office of Bar Counsel, Attorney Grievance Commission.

In that position, she supervises the office’s litigation attorneys and oversees all litigation matters handled by the Commission. She additionally oversees the intake and screening of attorney trust account cases.

IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF BEDFORD COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA CIVIL ACTION – LAW NO.: 152-2026 TO: Dawn M. Plumb a/k/a Dawn M. O’Connell, and all persons having or claiming to have any right, lien, title, interest in or claim against 6981 Chaneysville Road, Township of Monroe, County of Bedford, and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, tax parcel ID: F.13-0.00-027-B. TAKE NOTICE THAT Coastline Capital, LLC has filed a Complaint in Action to Quiet Title in the aforesaid Court as of the above term and number, and praying the Court to adjudicate and decree their title and right of possession to said premises, more particularly described in the said Complaint, indefeasible as against all rights and claims whatsoever, and you are hereby notified to file an Answer within twenty (20) days following the date of this publication, in default of which an Order may be entered as prayed for against you, requiring you to take such action as may be ordered by the Court within thirty days after the entry of such Order in default of which final judgment shall be entered.

If you wish to defend, you must enter a written appearance personally or by attorney and file your defenses or objections in writing with the Court. You are warned that if you fail to do so the case may proceed without you and a judgment may be entered against you without further notice for the relief requested by Plaintiff. You may lose money or property or other rights important to you.

YOU SHOULD TAKE THIS NOTICE TO YOUR LAWYER AT ONCE. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LAWYER AND WISH TO RETAIN ONE, PLEASE CALL THE NUMBER LISTED BELOW: LAWYER REFERAL SERVICE Bedford County Bar Association 232 E. Pitt St. Bedford, PA 15522 (814) 623-6189 CLYMER MUSSER & SARNO PC Christopher A. Sarno, Esq. 408 W. Chestnut Street, Lancaster, PA 17603 (717) 299-7101 MARYLAND BAR JOURNAL | VOLUME 8 ISSUE 1

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