Inside Report (3)

August 28, 1981

US Supreme Court nominee Sandra Day O'Connor is being joined by more and more female colleagues in the legal profession. A preliminary survey released this month by the American Bar Foundation, a nonprofit research institute, shows the number of women lawyers has increased dramatically since 1970. In 1950, 2.5 percent of US lawyers were women; in 1970 , the number had risen only to 2.8 percent. But by 1980 women made up 7.5 percent of lawyers.

One eye-opener: Women now account for 26 percent of all lawyers 26 years and younger, but only 4 percent of those who are over the age of 40.$m