The Women in Law Empowerment Forum has given 50 law firms a ‘Gold Standard’ award for giving women positions of leadership. In 2011, just 32 law firms were on the list. The criteria for the list includes the following: law firms must employ 100 or more lawyers and must meet at least three of six criteria. Some of the criteria are: women have to account for 20 percent of equity partners and women must represent 10 percent of the top half of the highest compensated partners at the firm.
According to the Women in Law Empowerment Forum website, the six criteria for law firms are as follows:
Women account for at least 20% of equity partners. 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.
The group is thinking about making it much more difficult for the firms to make the list, according to Ida Abbott, the head of the certification committee for the group. One way to make it more difficult is to require that all firms meet the 20 percent women-equity-partner requirement. “We don’t want to be drastic, but we do want to move the needle,” Abbott said. Just 40 percent of the firms on the list this year met the 20 percent requirement. The full list of firms includes the following:
Ballard Spahr
Covington & Burling
Crowell & Moring
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Dorsey & Whitney
Epstein Becker & Green
Faegre Baker Daniels
Farella Braun + Martel
Fennemore Craig
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Foley & Lardner
Ford & Harrison
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson
Frost Brown Todd
Fulbright & Jaworski
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher
Godfrey & Kahn
Goodwin Procter
Hanson Bridgett
Haynes and Boone
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Holland & Knight
K&L Gates
Latham & Watkins
Lindquist & Vennum
Littler Mendelson
Locke Lord
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
McCarter & English
Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo
Morrison & Foerster
Nixon Peabody
Paul Hastings
Pepper Hamilton
Perkins Coie
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Quarles & Brady
Reed Smith
Ropes & Gray
Sedgwick
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Stinson Morrison Hecker
Stoel Rives
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
Thompson Hine
Wilmer Cuter Pickering Hale and Dorr