By Chere B. Estrin
I was lightly skipping (OK, doom-scrolling) through some industry articles the other day, looking for a couple of solid stats for my blog: The Estrin Report. You know, the usual “safe and boring” data I like to sprinkle in to show that, yes, I do my homework:
- Paralegal field projected to grow 1%
- 82% of paralegals are female
- Top-paying cities are still the usual suspects: San Francisco, D.C., New York, Los Angeles, yada yada
And then it hit me. Hard.
Not the data. The disconnect.
My throat closed, my stomach turned, and all the other clichés your favorite legal drama would trot out in a dramatic courtroom close.
Here it is, straight from a NALA 2024 Compensation Trends report:
“In 2024, male paralegals earned approximately 14% more than their female counterparts.”
“White paralegals earned 4% more than BIPOC paralegals.”
Excuse me, what???
Fourteen percent?
Let’s just sit with that for a moment.
Ten years ago, that number was 3%. Still unfair, still irritating but manageable in that “we’re-working-on-it” kind of way. Now? It’s practically a slap in the face with a leather-bound billable hour log.
This is 2025, not 1925.
We are not typing on Selectrics and delivering redwelds by courier. We are in an era of AI, DEI, ESG, VPNs, Zoom fatigue, and “Let’s circle back” being an actual thing people say. And we still can’t pay paralegals equally? In the legal field?? The very industry that’s supposed to stand for justice?
Here’s What This Really Means:
- Women (who make up the overwhelming majority of the paralegal workforce) are getting the short end of the paycheck – again.
- BIPOC professionals are once again being told, in dollars and cents, that they’re not “equal enough.”
- And the profession, which already fights tooth and nail for recognition, just took a giant step backward.
But wait. There’s more. And it’s not pretty.
In my 25+ years in legal staffing, I’ve seen it all. I wish I could say this next part wasn’t true. But here we are. So, let’s call it out:
Overweight white women are generally rejected as candidates.
Overweight Black women? Often accepted.
Let me be clear: this is not an indictment of one group over another. It’s a glaring example of unconscious bias, body discrimination, and race-based stereotypes colliding into one toxic hiring pattern.
Why include this here? Because equity is not just about gender or race or salary. It’s about all of it. And pretending this subtle but very real—bias doesn’t exist only allows it to thrive behind closed doors and silent HR decisions.
The Consequences?
Let’s start with the obvious:
- Retention tanks.
- Morale plummets.
- Top talent leaves the field.
- And law firms are left wondering why they can’t find “qualified, committed” professionals.
Here’s a tip: Qualified and committed professionals know when they’re being undervalued—or judged before they walk in the door.
So What Can Be Done?
1. Start talking about it. Loudly. Publicly.
If firms can post about diversity during Pride Month, they can address wage equity every month.
2. Demand salary transparency.
No more cloak-and-dagger compensation. If firms can outline billable hour requirements down to the decimal, they can spell out pay ranges for support staff.
3. Conduct internal audits.
Seriously, it’s not hard. HR has the data. Review it. Compare it. Fix it.
4. Confront appearance-based bias.
Train hiring managers. Call it out in interviews. Understand that professionalism is not a dress size.
5. Negotiate like your future depends on it. Because it does.
Women and BIPOC professionals: ask the questions. Push for parity. Get the receipts.
6. If you’re in leadership—do better.
It’s not a “nice to have.” It’s a legal and moral imperative.
I’m not writing this to stir the pot. The pot is already boiling over.
I’m writing this because enough is enough.
This isn’t about charity or handouts. It’s about value, fairness, and respect for a profession that has long been the backbone of the legal world—without the glory or the paycheck to match.
Let’s fix this.
Now. Not in another ten years.
Because if you’re not part of the solution, you’re just another line item keeping the gap open.
Want to keep this conversation going? Drop your thoughts below or connect with me. The Estrin Report isn’t just a blog—it’s a call to action.
After we published his article, we got some responses from readers with these graphs:
The extrapolated 2025 pay difference between male and female paralegals is estimated to range from roughly $4.00 to $8.00 per hour.
We compared male and female paralegal salaries from 2015 to 2025 by adjusting for inflation and pay gaps. This approach demonstrates how pay disparities can persist or even widen over time despite overall wage growth.
Thank you Sheila Grela for this submission.
Here are the other stats/information I grabbed yesterday. The Labor report is actually separated out by profession, so it has legal jobs in particular. Gender Pay Gap Has Narrowed Slightly Over Past Decade
Employment Earnings by Occupation
From the Income in the United States: 2023 Current Population Reports – By Gloria Guzman and Melissa Kollar Issued September 2024 (pg 8)
Workers by Sex
Looking at the changes in median earnings and worker composition by sex can add context to the annual changes experienced by the total working population. Between 2022 and 2023, the total number of male and female workers increased by 1.0 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.34 The 2023 median earnings of working men increased 2.6 percent from 2022, while median earnings for working women decreased by 2.0 percent (Figure 4 and Table A-6).
Between 2022 and 2023, the median earnings of men ($66,790) and women ($55,240) who worked full-time, year-round increased by 3.0 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively (Figure 4 and Table A-6). Neither the change in the number of male nor female full-time, year-round workers was statistically significant between 2022 and 2023 (Figure 5 and Table A-6). The share of male workers employed full-time, year-round decreased to 75.0 percent in 2023
from 75.9 percent in 2022. The share of female workers employed full-time, year-round decreased from 65.6 percent in 2022 to 64.6 percent in 2023.35
Thank. you Michelle Pendleton, CP for this information.
#GenderPayGap #Paralegals #LegalProfessionals #WageEquity #DEI #Leadership #TheEstrinReport #LegalStaffing #EqualPayNow #ChereEstrinVoice #BiasInHiring #ParalegalPower #BodyDiscrimination
Chere Estrin is the CEO of Estrin Legal Staffing, Editor-in-Chief of The Estrin Report, and an expert in legal career strategy. She is known for saying what most recruiters won’t. She has a new book, Power Plays for Legal Professionals: Strategies to Move Your Career Forward coming out Fall 2025. Reach her at: Chere@EstrinLegalStaffing.com.