Overview
CHICAGO (July 30, 2015) — McDermott Will & Emery is proud to announce that it has once again been selected by Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers as one of the “50 Best Law Firms for Women.” The list recognizes law firms for their family friendly policies and career development initiatives that are helping to retain women attorneys and advance them into the leadership pipeline. This is the second consecutive year – and the third time in the past four years – that McDermott has earned a spot on this prestigious list.
“We are honored to once again be among the ‘50 Best Law Firms for Women,’” said co-chairs Jeffrey E. Stone and Peter J. Sacripanti. “At McDermott we have made great strides in developing and implementing practices that provide our women lawyers with greater flexibility, additional mentoring, coaching, and networking opportunities. We are proud of our efforts thus far, and we look forward to working closely with our Gender Diversity & Inclusion Committee to create additional family-friendly policies and professional development programs that will provide greater levels of support to our women professionals in the years to come.”
The full list of the 2015 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. The firms on the list employ more female equity partners (20%) in 2015 than the national average (17%). McDermott is proud that women lawyers have comprised 48% of McDermott’s promoted partners since 2012, and 52% of the firm’s most recent partner class was women.
Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers co-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 information and benchmarking tools they need to improve the status of women in their firms in the future. This year, McDermott was specifically applauded for its reduced-time options and Women’s Business Development Initiative Coaching Program. Working Mother cites the latter as an example of the Firm’s effective “long-range planning [that] readies women to become equity partners…providing those in nonequity roles with eight months of career coaching and encouraging them to share their ideas.” The publication’s editor described the Coaching Program as “highly innovative and impactful.”
Jennifer Owens, editorial director of Working Mother Media, says, “The 50 Best Law Firms for Women are setting and pushing forward the standard when it comes to retaining women–and advancing them to the very top, equity partnership. These firms are also committed to creating best practices that support working parents.”
Deborah Epstein Henry, president of Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, adds, “Law firms that focus exclusively on flexible and reduced hour policies to retain women or solely on getting women in power seats are missing the mark. We see our Best Law Firms for Women who are having the most success to be the ones that understand the value of focusing on both retention and promotion simultaneously. They are cultivating female talent to facilitate that they get the good work, the skills and the flexibility they may need. Yet they are also investing in women with business development and leadership opportunities to ensure they have a strong presence and voice in the equity partner ranks, the governing committees and in running the law firm as a business.”
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corporation (bonnier.com), 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. WMM’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. 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 founded by Deborah Epstein Henry in the late 1990s, providing advisory, training and speaking services to employers and professionals on work life balance, retaining and promoting women and the future of the legal profession. It provides consulting and speaking services to law firms, corporations, professional service firms, non-profits, bar associations, and law schools, and at conferences, and retreats. For more information, please visit http://www.flextimelawyers.com.
About McDermott
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1,000 lawyers, we have offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, 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.
www.mwe.com
