Overview
CHICAGO (August 5, 2014) — Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers today announced the 2014 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers “50 Best Law Firms for Women,” selected for their family-friendly policies and business development and career development initiatives that are helping to retain women attorneys and advance them into the leadership pipeline. McDermott Will & Emery has been selected for this prestigious list.
The full list of the 2014 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers, which includes the percentage of female partners and the percentage of each firm’s lawyers who work reduced hours, among other key highlights, can be viewed here: 50 Best Law Firms for Women. Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers founded the 50 Best Law Firms for Women initiative in 2007 to celebrate the law firms that are most successful in retaining and promoting women lawyers. The goal is also to give law firms the benchmarking tools to enable them to improve the status of women in their firms in the future.
The representation of women at the equity partner, non-equity partner and counsel levels has continued to increase at firms on the list since 2007. The percentage of equity partners who are women among the winning firms has risen to 19% from 16% in 2007, non-equity partners to 29% from 22%, and counsel to 42% from 37%.
“We are very pleased that the Firm has once again been recognized for the careful attention we pay to building and developing a fully inclusive environment for our female lawyers,” said McDermott co-chairs Jeffrey E. Stone and Peter J. Sacripanti. “At McDermott, it is not enough to simply value diversity. We are committed to implementing practices that create and maintain gender diversity, racial and ethnic diversity, and LGBT diversity for the long-term benefit of our colleagues and clients.”
McDermott recently created a Women’s Business Development Initiative, developed a Women’s Leadership series of events, and expanded its mentoring programs for junior women partners. The Firm has also established benefits and policies including reduced-time schedules, parental and caregiver leave options, a workforce re-entry assistance program, and equitable promotion guidelines. Women lawyers comprised 39% of the Firm’s class of equity and income partners in 2013.
Carol Evans, president of Working Mother Media, says, “An amazing abundance of female talent has poured into the field of law. It is critical that this talent is allowed to succeed, and that the culture of the law industry adjusts to the work life needs of women. The Best Law Firms for Women are leading the way for all law firms to follow. ”
Deborah Epstein Henry, president of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, states, “Being a women-friendly workplace today means much more than having the policies and infrastructure in place to enable all lawyers to thrive. It also means having significant work/life usage rates and high representation of women among the equity partner and leadership ranks to demonstrate that such policies are indeed viable.”
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corporation, publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com. The Working Mother Research Institute (workingmother.com/wmri), the National Association for Female Executives (nafe.com) and Diversity Best Practices (diversitybestpractices.com) are also units within WMM. Working Mother magazine reaches more than 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers.
About Flex-Time Lawyers
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is an international consulting firm which provides advisory, training and speaking services to employers and professionals on work life balance, retaining and promoting women and new models of legal practice. For more information, please visit http://www.flextimelawyers.com.
About McDermott Will & Emery
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,100 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan, Munich, New York, Orange County, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. Further extending our reach into Asia, we have a strategic alliance with MWE China Law Offices in Shanghai.
