So, is the biggest problem facing women lawyers the fact that they earn, on average, tens of thousands of dollars less than their male colleagues, or is it that their work hours are so brutal that they leave the profession? Both are serious problems, writes Dallas lawyer Kathleen Wu in this week’s Texas Lawyer, and one of the best ways to address both of them is for firms to get serious about offering flex-time.

I realize the disconnect: How will women ever close the pay gap if firms offer flextime policies, which allow women to downshift their careers temporarily and thereby get paid less but have more time off? The answer is simple: Because one of the main reasons the pay gap exists — lack of diversity on compensation committees — won't ever get resolved if women keep leaving the profession before they're senior enough to get on to those committees.

According to a recent study released by the Project for Attorney Retention, "New Millennium, Same Glass Ceiling? The Impact of Law Firm Compensation Systems on Women," women partners earn dramatically less than their male counterparts, with equity partners averaging $66,000 less and income partners averaging $25,000 less.

While some of the disparity was attributed to origination credit policies (which gives the “originating” attorney a larger share of the fees earned by a particular client), one of the main reasons cited for the pay gap was a lack of women on compensation committees. More than half of the firms surveyed by PAR have one or no women on the compensation committee.

But if firms allow women to downshift and work more manageable hours, those lawyers stay on track. They maintain their contacts, they stay on top of the law and they don't disappear into the void that so many women find themselves in when they step off the treadmill altogether. Yes, lawyers need to address the pay gap. It's enraging and should be remedied. But the legal profession can't do that by putting work-life policies on the back-burner. Only by keeping women in the work force — even if it's not at 100 percent — will there be enough of us in a position to make sure the rest of us are paid what we're worth.