On a typical day, Mindy Mora arrives at her law office about 8 a.m. and leaves 12 hours later. She will drive home, eat dinner and put in a few more hours of work, even taking client calls late at night. "Being a partner at a law firm is not a 9-to-5 job," she says.

The grueling lifestyle, even with the cachet of a partner title and a six-figure salary, is one Ms. Mora -- a bankruptcy attorney at Bilzin Sumberg -- knows young female law associates increasingly are shunning. "They want to be able to have a family and enjoy their family."

In the competitive legal industry, pressure to meet quotas, bring in business and service clients who want instant responses is creating demands on lawyers that are all encompassing. That pressure has led more women to forge their own paths -- even to hang their own shingles -- rather than navigate the politics of big law firms.

The excruciating requirements of a big firm partnership are one reason Eleanor Barnett left Ms. Mora's firm to practice at Heller Waldman in Coconut Grove, Fla., a commercial litigation boutique with seven attorneys. Ms. Barnett, a mother of two, is a partner at the firm and says while the client demands might be the same, she doesn't have the internal aspects that can be time-consuming at a larger firm. "That can make a big difference for women who are trying to balance motherhood and a busy litigation practice."

The trend toward female lawyers moving on to practice law outside big corporate firms has created opportunities and success stories in South Florida. There are solo practitioners who have built significant practices in niche areas and women who have become standout partners at smaller law firms. There are more women who sit as judges and mediators and others who hold positions as general counsel at local companies and towns.

To be sure, the big firms with the top legal work and fat paychecks continue to attract aspiring female attorneys in South Florida. But the attraction may be cooling. New survey data shows that for the first time in a decade, the ranks of female attorneys are thinning, even at entry positions. And worse, women are not reaching the top.

A recent National Association of Women Lawyers survey showed that 16 percent of women were equity partners in American Lawyer top 200 firms. This ceiling is especially troubling given that women lawyers already leave big-firm practices at a greater pace than their male counterparts.

The trend has some managing partners concerned enough that they are ramping up efforts to advance their rising stars to partner and tackle the higher female attrition rates.

Tammy Knight, a partner at Holland & Knight in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., takes female associates along on pitches for new business. But at the end of the day, she says, "It's still about the client taking that leap."