The 2007 Best Law Firms for Women

By Editorial Staff of Flex-Time Lawyers

New York, NY (August 14, 2007) -- Working Mother magazine, the authoritative source for career mothers, and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, a national consulting firm advising attorneys and legal employers on work-life balance and the retention and advancement of women, today announced the list of the 2007 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women. The winning firms are notable for their work/life and women-friendly policies--including flex-time, child care and women-focused mentoring, leadership and networking programs--as they set new standards to retain and promote top female legal talent.

In a profession often distinguished by cut-throat competition, 100-hour work weeks, and few women in top partnership positions, the 2007 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women firms are redefining standards of success and creating workplaces that encourage the retention and promotion of women. For more than twenty years, women have comprised 40-50% of law school graduates and forward-thinking firms are recognizing that in order to retain and promote the best talent, they need to ensure women lawyers' success.

"Forget the old stereotypes of law firms as inhospitable to women," said Suzanne Riss, Editor in Chief, Working Mother magazine. "As Working Mother examined the practices of many of the nation's law firms, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that a number have been quietly changing their policies in recent years to reflect changes that are afoot in society as a whole. The 2007 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women are making women's issues a priority, and the success of their policies will hopefully become reflected in the number of women, from associates all the way up to partners."

"We are delighted to celebrate the firms that have begun to make strides with respect to women. Competition is the ultimate instrument of change and my goal in partnering with Working Mother to create this list is to make work/life balance and women's issues a basis of competition among law firms, as historically has been the case for salary or pro-bono," said Deborah Epstein Henry, Founder and President, Flex-Time Lawyers LLC.

Added Henry, "The other key component to making change is information and participating law firms are now positioned to acquire the national benchmarking data they need to improve the status of women in the profession and raise the bar on what makes a best law firm for women."

THE 2007 WORKING MOTHER & FLEX-TIME LAWYERS BEST LAW FIRMS FOR WOMEN

1. Alston & Bird, Atlanta, GA
2. Armstrong Teasdale, St. Louis, MO
3. Arnold & Porter, Washington, DC
4. Baker & Daniels, Indianapolis, IN
5. Baker & McKenzie, Chicago, IL
6. Bingham McCutchen, Boston, MA
7. Blackwell Sanders, Kansas City, MO
8. Bryan Cave, St. Louis, MO
9. Chapman and Cutler, Chicago, IL
10. Covington & Burling, Washington, DC
11. Cravath, Swaine & Moore, New York, NY
12. Debevoise & Plimpton, New York, NY
13. Dickstein Shapiro, Washington, DC
14. DLA Piper US, New York, NY
15. Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis, MN
16. Duane Morris, Philadelphia, PA
17. Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, Pittsburgh, PA
18. Farella Braun + Martel, San Francisco, CA
19. Foley & Lardner, Milwaukee, WI
20. Folger Levin & Kahn, San Francisco, CA
21. Gibbons P.C., Newark, NJ
22. Heller Ehrman, San Francisco, CA
23. Hogan & Hartson, Washington, DC
24. Holland & Knight, New York, NY
25. Howrey, Washington, DC
26. Hunton & Williams, Richmond, VA
27. Ice Miller, Indianapolis, IN
28. Katten Muchin Rosenman, Chicago, IL
29. King & Spalding, Atlanta, GA
30. Kirkland & Ellis, Chicago, IL
31. Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, Pittsburgh, PA
32. Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, New York, NY
33. Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Los Angeles, CA
34. Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, Chicago, ILc
35. McDermott Will & Emery, Chicago, IL
36. McGuireWoods, Richmond, VA
37. Miller & Chevalier Chartered, Washington, DC
38. Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo, Boston, MA
39. Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco, CA
40. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, New York, NY
41. Patton Boggs, Washington, DC
42. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, New York, NY
43. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, New York, NY
44. Reed Smith, Pittsburgh, PA
45. Sidley Austin, Chicago, IL
46. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, New York, NY
47. Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, Chicago, IL
48. White & Case, New York, NY
49. WilmerHale, Washington, DC
50. Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, Winston-Salem, NC

The complete information about the 2007 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women--including profiles of the winning firms--appears in the August/September issue of Working Mother, available on newsstands August 14, 2007 and at www.workingmother.com and www.flextimelawyers.com.

Methodology

The 2007 Best Law Firms for Women application was developed in a partnership between Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. The application included detailed questions about the issues that are most important to the retention and promotion of women lawyers. The 50 winning firms were selected based on their responses to an application measuring six areas of importance: workforce profile, benefits and compensation, parental leave, child care, flexibility, and retention and advancement of women.

About Working Mother

Founded in 1979, Working Mother magazine reaches nearly 3 million readers and is the only national magazine for career mothers. Its 21-year signature initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is the most important benchmark for work/life practices in corporate America. The publication also releases the annual list of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women in the June issue. Working Mother is published by Working Mother Media (WMM), which also owns the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE), NAFE Magazine, the annual 100 Best Companies WorkLife Congress, as well as the Best Companies for Multicultural Women Conference and regional Town Halls. In 2006, WMM acquired Diversity Best Practices and the Business Women's Network, making Working Mother Media the largest media company in the country focused on diversity and the advancement of women. For more information, please visit www.workingmother.com.

About Flex-Time Lawyers LLC

Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is a national consulting firm advising lawyers, law firms, bar associations, law schools and corporations on work/life balance, business development, women's initiatives, re-entry of comeback professionals and the retention and promotion of women. It hosts a membership organization with chapters in New York and Philadelphia, offering networking opportunities, support, career guidance, education and information sharing to effect change. Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is a resource to the press and legal community at large on work/life balance and women's issues and also provides recruiting services. It has been covered extensively in the national and legal press, including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, National Public Radio, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, National Law Journal, New York Law Journal, and numerous others. For more information, please visit www.flextimelawyers.com.