Report: Most men think their firms advocate for diversity, women disagree.

Byline: Michaela Paukner, mpaukner@wislawjournal.com

A new report from the American Bar Association found women are far more likely than men toencounter roadblocks to success in the legal field.

The report from the ABA and ALM Intelligencesurveyed more than 1,200 big firm lawyers who have been in practice for at least 15 years.It showed experienced women reported obstacles blocking their "access to success" much more frequently than men. They named as obstacles a lack of access to business development opportunities, perceptions that they are less committed to a career and a lack of opportunities for promotions.

Both men and women reported similar satisfaction levels with the intellectual demands of their jobs as lawyers, but they had different levels of satisfaction with the recognition they receive for their work, opportunities for advancements, commitments to workplace diversity and the leadership diversity of their firms.

Keystatistics showingthe disparity include:

82% of the managing partners surveyed agreed that their firms were "active advocates of gender diversity." Ninety-one...