The retention and promotion of more women in law firms isn’t only critical to leveling the playing field between male and female attorneys.

The presence of more women in prominent legal positions actually could boost firms’ bottom lines, said Kimberly Brown, the president of the Allegheny County Bar Association.

Ms. Brown, a partner at Downtown firm Thorp Reed & Armstrong, was elected president of the bar association for a yearlong term beginning in July that will include the much-anticipated launch of the Institute for Gender Equality.

Created by the bar association last year as a result of a survey that found women had made few strides in advancement in the local legal community between 1990 and 2005, the Institute has scheduled its first programming for November.

It will hold a kickoff luncheon Oct. 28 at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown, featuring Judge Marjorie Rendell of the U.S. Court of Appeals and wife of Gov. Ed Rendell; and Laurel Bellows, past chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession.

“We’re incredibly excited,” Ms. Brown said.

“Both of them are very active in activities for advancement and equal treatment of women in the profession.

By looking at Judge Rendell’s career, in many ways it’s tracked the career path we see for women in the profession: from private practice to something else, which in her case is a distinguished career on the bench.”

The migration of female lawyers from private practice to what Ms. Brown called “less traditional practice areas,” such as in-house corporate counsels, nonprofit work, teaching or jobs unrelated to the law, is a driving force behind the institute’s creation.

Its programs, Ms. Brown said, will help law firm managing partners and other key decision makers identify the reasons women leave practices and assist firms in creating work environments that can enhance, rather than inhibit women’s careers.

Specific issues that drive women away from traditional law firm positions, she said, include lack of flexibility in balancing family and work, and little or no assistance in career planning and business development.

After training and investing in young lawyers, firms stand to lose $200,000 to $500,000 “when that woman walks out the door” to seek a better balance or a promotion elsewhere, said Ms. Brown.

“It’s to their own economic advantage to take a look at why women are leaving so they don’t incur that loss … and continue to have an employee who will contribute to the bottom line.”

The bar association approved $65,000 for programming and expenses related to the Institute through June 2010.

Besides sessions targeted to key law firm decision makers, it will offer programs for practitioners and law students — both male and female.

While bar associations across the nation have conducted studies and convened task force committees to study gender equality, Ms. Brown believes that the local initiative goes a step beyond by offering programs to help shrink the gender gap.

“We’re not aware of any other bar association addressing how to make real changes and educate employers about the changes they can make to directly impact the retention of women in a way that will help their business model and their bottom line.

There can’t be one without the other.”