Four Law Firms on Working Mother’s List of 100 Best Companies

Women in the Law

Four Law Firms on Working Mother’s List of 100 Best Companies

Posted Sep 25, 2008, 06:54 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Working Mother Magazine has released its 2008 list of 100 best companies, and it includes four law firms.

They are: Arnold & Porter, Covington & Burling, Katten Muchin Rosenman and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, the National Law Journal reports. The list was released one month after the magazine listed the top 50 law firms for working mothers.

The magazine noted these benefits provided by the firms:

• Arnold & Porter in Washington, D.C. An on-site child-care center that is open evenings and weekends. Flexible schedules and telecommuting options. A 24-week leave to care for ailing family members. An 18-week maternity leave.

• Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. An 18-week maternity and adoption leave. Assigned mentors. A Women’s Forum with programs on improving advocacy skills.

• Katten Muchin Rosenman in Chicago. A month’s sabbatical after five years of service. An expanded back-up child-care program. A lunchtime mentoring program. A new Leadership Institute for Women of Color. Private nursing rooms for breastfeeding moms.

• Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman in New York. Major assignments for lawyers with reduced schedules. Flextime and telecommuting. An 18-week maternity leave. Personal leaves of absence for up to five years. Back-up child-care centers. Mentoring and leadership training.

Also making the top 100 list were some companies at the center of the Wall Street crisis: Lehman Brothers, now in bankruptcy; and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have been taken over by the government. Heller Ehrman, now considering dissolution, made the magazine’s top 50 list of law firms.

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Posted by Ellen Barshevsky - 1 month, 3 weeks, 6 days, 5 hours, 24 minutes ago

I can’t believe that ONLY 4 law firms made the list. We can do MJCH better on being women friendly.

We need to persuade our firms to be more family friendly, and if need be, ask that legislation be passed to ensure that firms treat women fairly. This means equal pay for equal work, giving time off for family friendly activities, etc.

Of course, men can also take advantage of this, but the focus should be on WOMEN getting equal treatment.

If you go to www.workingmother.com, you will see what I am talking about.

I went to the website and saw all the firms on the list. Most are NOT law firms. In fact only FOUR out of 100 are law firms, including one firm where my sister in law works as a paralegal.

I have encouraged her to take advantage of the family friendly policies, and she will do so, as she is married with 2 children.

Right now, I don’t work in a particularly friendly place for women, but I will leave a copy of this article with the managing parter’s secretary to show him.

He needs to know that the firm has along way to go.
Posted by BC - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 16 hours, 1 minute ago

Really?!?? It seems like every time I look at a website, a firm is claiming to be a top place to work for women. I guess that’s because Working Mother Magazine puts out a separate list for top law firms for the working woman. It makes you wonder though, where would the rest of the firms fall in the bigger list to include all companies? Hmmmmm….
Posted by Associate Zero - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 15 hours, 20 minutes ago

These Working Mother lists are huge jokes - the most working mother friendly law firm list has numerous sweatshops, including one particularly horrendous (abusive, discriminatory) place I’ve worked at. My local legal community is still rolling with laughter at the inclusion of that firm - it has quite the local reputation thanks to a noisy discrimination suit. You must be able to pay for inclusion on that list - it doesn’t seem to reflect reality.
Posted by DCEsq. - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 8 hours, 1 minute ago

Do 70-80-hour work weeks not impact the rankings on this list?
Posted by jiffy pop - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 6 hours, 36 minutes ago

Being mother-friendly is having on-site child care open evenings and weekends, and with that, the expectation that your work on evenings and weekends at the office ? Personally, I’d rather be home with my kids on evenings & weekends.
Posted by mdooo1 - 1 month, 3 weeks, 15 hours, 25 minutes ago

Ellen Barshevsky: Oh you poor, poor women. None of you can get a break, can you? This injustice must stop! To think of the oppresion and suffering women in the U.S. workforce endure. Why, you must think passing legislation is needed.

Why not pass something called, EEO & Affirmative Action? Oh, wait….

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