Women In Law Empowerment Forum -- 2014 Gold Standard Firms Announced
The Women in Law Empowerment Forum ("WILEF") is an organization devoted to the education of women in law firms, and furthers its goals by providing networking opportunities for women. Now in its eighth year, WILEF provides Gold Standard Certification to law firms that "successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their highest leadership positions, of their governance and compensation committees, and of their most highly compensated partners."
Let's see who made the cut for 2014, and what they are doing right.
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WILEF Gold Standard Certification
To gain WILEF Gold Standard Certification, law firms must meet four of the six following criteria:
Women account for at least 20% of equity partners or alternatively, 33% or more of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months.
• Women represent at least 10% of firm chairs and office managing partners.
• Women make up at least 20% of the firm's primary governance committee.
• Woman represent 20% or more of the firm's compensation committee.
• Women make up at least 25% of practice group leaders or department heads.
• Women represent at least 10% of the top half of the most highly compensated partners.
Though 45 law firms received Gold Standard Certification, only seven law firms met all six criteria, says Above the Law. Here's a complete list of the firms that made the cut -- the seven law firms that met all the criteria are in bold.
Ballard Spahr
Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Cooley
Covington & Burling
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Wright Tremaine
Dentons
DLA Piper
Epstein Becker & Green
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Ford & Harrison
Fredrikson & Byron
Frost Brown Todd
Gibbons
Haynes & Boone
Hogan Lovells
Holland & Hart
Holland & Knight
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Jackson Lewis
K&L Gates
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Latham & Watkins
Littler Mendelson
Locke Lord
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
McCarter & English
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Morrison & Foerster
Nixon Peabody
Norton Rose Fulbright
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Hastings
Perkins Coie
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Quarles & Brady
Reed Smith
Schiff Hardin
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sidley Austin
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Steptoe & Johnson
Stoel Rives
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
Thompson Hine
Did Your Firm Make the Cut?
So, did you firm make the cut? Are you rushing to get your resume ready to apply to one of the above named firms? Before you make the big leap try to see if there's any hope at your firm for a shift in corporate culture.
Perhaps send this list to your human resources department as a gentle nudge. If you think your firm should be on the list, there's still time to receive Gold Standard Certification in time for your firm to be recognized at the WILEF Gold Standard Awards gala luncheon on September 17, 2014 -- just have the application in by August 15, 2014.
Maybe if you gently suggest that your firm should apply, they may realize that they are lacking in certain areas and will try to change so that they too can receive Gold Standard Certification in the future.
Related Resources:
- 4 Ideas: How Women Can Be Liked AND Successful (FindLaw's Greedy Associates Blog)
- Negotiate at Your Own Risk: Women and the Gender Pay Gap (FindLaw's Greedy Associates Blog)
- On Female Lawyers at BigLaw and 'Great Expectations' (FindLaw's Greedy Associates Blog)