These 50 law firms have been named best for women
Fifty law firms have been named the best for women because of family friendly policies and initiatives that help female lawyers advance.
Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers announced the list on Tuesday in a press release (PDF). The findings of this year’s 50 Best Law Firms for Women survey of the top firms are available here (PDF). The initiative has been conducting similar surveys since 2007; the 2014 survey evaluated firms based on their responses to more than 300 questions.
At the best law firms:
• Twenty percent of their lawyers use full-time, flextime arrangements, up from 15 percent last year.
• Forty percent have two or more women among their top 10 rainmakers, up from 32 percent last year. (Only 45 of the top 50 firms answered the rainmaking question.)
• Nineteen percent of equity partners are women, compared to the national average of 17 percent.
• The percentage of seats on committees filled by women is 24 percent on the executive committee; 25 percent on the compensation committee; and 26 percent on the equity partner promotion committee. All three numbers are two percentage points higher than last year.
A related article (PDF) in the package by Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers says women lawyers don’t need to follow the “unwritten rules” to succeed. Some of the unwritten rules which can be broken are:
• “Stick to the schedule.” One lawyer tells how she made partner while pregnant.
• “Wait your turn.” Instead of patiently waiting for promotion, look for ways to promote yourself.
• “Always be networking.” This can be time-consuming; other business development tools may work just as well.
The firms that made the list are:
Baker & McKenzie
Chapman and Cutler
Cooley
Crowell & Moring
Davis Wright Tremaine
Debevoise & Plimpton
DLA Piper
Dorsey & Whitney
Drinker Biddle & Reath
Duane Morris
Faegre Baker Daniels
Farella Braun + Martel
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Foley & Lardner
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
Fredrikson & Byron
Gibbons
Godfrey & Kahn
Goodwin Procter
Hanson Bridgett
Hogan Lovells US
Holland & Hart
Hunton & Williams
Ice Miller
Jenner & Block
Katten Muchin Rosenman
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lindquist & Vennum
Littler
Lowenstein Sandler
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
McDermott Will & Emery
McGuireWoods
Morrison & Foerster
Munger, Tolles & Olson
Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
Norton Rose Fulbright
O’Melveny & Myers
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Perkins Coie
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Quarles & Brady
Reed Smith
Schiff Hardin
Seyfarth Shaw
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sidley Austin
Thompson & Knight
WilmerHale
Updated at 11:37 a.m. to correct omissions from the list and to add more info about the methodology of the survey.
