I am referring to women who are unmarried or without a live-in partner lifelong. In other words, women termed as “spinsters” (in old-fashioned English) or “bachelorettes” (in contemporary English).

In my observation, the percentage of such women in the legal profession is possibly higher than in others. I’m not sure why, but perhaps the reason is that it takes a long while for women to be earning well independently in this profession, except nepo kids and a few Big 7 associates. Guys perhaps prefer girls in other careers where money is earned quicker. Another reason could be that women lawyers are fiercely independent-minded and choosy. I’m not trying to be derogatory or stereotype such women as grumpy, bossy, unattractive cat ladies. On the contrary, I have often found such women to be very attractive and great to talk to. I much prefer listening to them talk about old movies/music than girls my age talk about dumb social media trends . … I’m just commenting on what I think is a striking social phenomenon about relationships among a certain demographic.

This is incorrect. Law firm women are far more likely to be single lifelong than court advocate women. The reason being women in Litigation mostly get married by the age of 27 to someone or the other. In firms, women on partner track often have high expectations about a potential life partner and end up being single.

Male court advocates have a hard time getting hitched. Because of patriarchy men are expected to be the breadwinners which they become only after a decade of practice. On the other hand, women in law firms have harder time getting thier matches. Because men are too egoistic to getting married to someone making double what they do, this also because of patriarchy. But most people (men and women) marry at the end of the day.

The politically correct woke term is "self partnered woman". Emma Watson uses this term for herself. Spinster, old maid thornback are considered politically incorrect and non-woke, as they are considered ageist (thornback literally means skin like thorns).

https://theconversation.com/spinster-old-maid-or-self-partnered-why-words-for-single-women-have-changed-through-time-126716

Right here ma'am. Just married such a women. Dated for almost 5 years and have enjoyed every conversation with her ever since. I can safely say - she saved me from a boring (and most likely doomed) future. I guess I got lucky when I bumped into her.

Took me a long time to convince her to marry me. She was mindful (for obvious reasons) that things will change. Have been holding the fort so far, to her liking - never made her feel any different from our dating days. Wish me luck. (Since I married her, she is out of the group I guess.)

(I am a Partner at a T1. She too works in another T1)

The problem is that technology has simultaneously brought people together and made them grow apart. You would think that it's easier to find partners now than in our parents' days, but that's not necessarily true. People don't physically meet as often as before, because of technology. And then you have social media, which has polarised us politically into wokes and non-wokes, which impacts dating too. As far as the legal profession is concerned, the number of toxic people here is very high, so that makes things worse.

As a guy at a T1 in Mumbai I have seen this happen time and again. Brilliant women associates and senior associates do work hard and get promoted to junior partner and even equity eventually. These women are burning the midnight oil and often have no romance or even a partner in their lives. Even seen some junior partners get married only to get divorced 5-6 years later. I think the single women who are career focussed are happy with their lot, I don’t think they feel there is anything lacking in their lives. At least that is what they say. Some are willing to get married but don’t want kids. This tends to be a dealbreaker for a lot of guys in India. So they don’t end up getting a life partner or getting married. Not saying this is a good/bad thing. Just stating observations.

At the risk of being cancelled by feminists, let me lay out some brutal truths for the ladies:

- Working as a law firm associate or litigator sucks out your energy and time

- If you aren't seeing anyone and want a husband through a non-arranged marriage, best to go into a less demanding job like in-house counsel or academia.

- Yes, that may mean that your husband will earn more and you'll be the junior breadwinner