Less than 17 percent of the partners at United States law firms are women, according to a recent study by the National Association of Law Placement. Only 20 percent of federal judges are women, and 24 percent of state judges. Women are leaving the legal profession at much higher rates than men—yet many women achieve great success in the law, and New York is the home to a number of them. Judith S. Kaye is Chief Judge of the State of New York, appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo in 1993 as the first woman to occupy that position. United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a native New Yorker who graduated from Columbia Law School and spent much of her career here as law professor and litigator. Many of the top lawyers in the state are women, including those who head up premier law firms and represent blue-chip clients or land record verdicts. In the highly competitive world of law, these women are thriving.

What is their advice to young lawyers and other women executives? In a nutshell, you have to be prepared to work very hard for very long hours, they say. And, unless you really love the work, it won’t be worth that very high cost. “I think that today, practicing law is a 24 hour 7 day a week job, and the expectation of clients is that you have to be available constantly,” says Gwendolyn M. Robosson, a partner and managing attorney of the Iselin, New Jersey office of Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy. Robosson, one of the nation’s top immigration lawyers, who represents such Fortune 100 companies as Honeywell, BASF Corporation, and Proctor & Gamble. “To be successful, particularly with the demands placed on professionals today, you have to be willing to give 110 percent,” she adds. Judith A. Livingston of New York’s Kramer, Dillof, Livingston & Moore agrees. With 26 jury verdicts of more than $1 million to her name, Livingston, who represents people seriously injured or killed by medical errors, is one of the nation’s top medical malpractice lawyers, a field in which there are few women. What is her key to success? “It’s hard work and more hard work,” she says.

Divorce lawyer Sheila Riesel of New York's Blank Rome has represented Al Pacino and Woody Allen, and was ranked by Worth magazine as one of the top 100 attorneys for wealthy clients. She has the same formula for success. “You have to be devoted to your client’s causes, and the client has to feel your commitment to their case and their issues,” Riesel says. “And you have to be willing to work hard.”

Just how hard is hard? Nancy Chemtob, who was 27 years old when she launched her own firm 15 years ago and today is among the region’s most sought-after matrimonial lawyers, personally returns every client’s phone call, and was using her Blackberry while she was in labor with hersons. Riesel says she’s worked around the clock when the situation demands it. Livingston says that when she’s on trial and in the weeks preceding, she does nothing but work on her case, getting very little sleep.

For many people, a work ethic bordering on obsession isn’t worth the price. These women say the key is that they love what they do.

From the time she entered law school in the late 1970s, Livingston knew she wanted to be in the courtroom, a passion that sustains her through the exhaustive demands of trial work. “Obviously, you have to love what you’re doing,” she says. “I don’t see how you could have any career that requires a lot of time without loving it.”

Valerie Ford Jacob is one of only a few women to head a major United States law firm. She leads the ultra-sophisticated global capital markets practice at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, and Jacobson. Under her co-leadership (she chairs the firm with another partner), profits at the firm have gone up each year, a feat she managed while raising three children. “People say I’m energetic, but I’m excited about the work I do,” she explains. “I love Fried, Frank, and I’ve had great clients over the years. That’s all great stuff, and it makes me excited.”

Jacob found her firm exceptionally willing to accommodate her career growth while helping her balance parenting; she often brought her kids to work, where they played soccer in the halls. (“The only one who cared was the person in charge of the artwork,” she says, with a laugh.)

Amy Schulman, senior litigation partner at DLA Piper, has learned to successfully balance a busy, high-profile career and the demands of family by recognizing that the notion of work-life balance doesn’t really capture what she describes as a “complex iterative process.” She places a premium on “flexibility, constantly adjusting priorities, and appropriately delegating. I also believe in the importance of giving permission to men and women so they don’t feel furtive about the demands of family life.” Her ability to help others achieve their own work-life balance, and to train and develop a strong cadre of women lawyers, is one of the accomplishments of which Schulman is most proud.