2013 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women

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Flex-Time Lawyers LLC and president Deborah Epstein Henry

2013 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women Executive Summary

Baker & McKenzie
Chicago, IL
Women: 37%
Check it out: In 2012, 52% of this firm’s associates were women. To accelerate their rise, management emphasizes progressive policies and supports alternative work options, gender-specific mentoring and education around unconscious bias.

Female Equity Partners 17%
Female Nonequity Partners 32%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Chapman and Cutler
Chicago, IL
Women: 34%
Check it out: Associates here can utilize flexible schedules, work off-site up to 18 days per year and cut their annual hours by as much as 40% while remaining eligible for nonequity partner. Bonuses are based on effort and impact, not just billable amounts.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners 28%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Cooley
Palo Alto, CA
Women: 36%
Check it out: Female leaders serve as career counselors in this firm’s Cooley Women’s Initiative, which helps emerging attorneys build their skills toward partnership by offering targeted training, informative discussions and important networking events.

Female Equity Partners 22%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 8%

Crowell & Moring
Washington, DC
Women: 38%
Check it out: Staying ahead of the curve, this firm recently introduced a pilot program that shows its 30 most influential partners how to sponsor high-potential associates, while educating female and diverse associates on the best ways to maximize such support.

Female Equity Partners 13%
Female Nonequity Partners 28%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 12%

Debevoise & Plimpton
New York, NY
Women: 42%
Check it out: Women fill half of the associate and counsel positions here, and since 2008 have earned the same proportion of promotions to equity partner. In 2012, one tenth of all the firm's attorneys held part-time schedules. New moms may take up to 20 paid weeks off.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 10%

DLA Piper US
Baltimore, MD
Women: 33%
Check it out: Lawyers forge critical relationships in this firm’s Leadership Alliance for Women, a nationwide resource group devoted to their training and advancement, which also hosts quarterly business forums for its members of color and stages global summits.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 10%

Dorsey & Whitney
Minneapolis, MN
Women: 35%
Check it out: Parents here got a great gift in January, when the firm started granting attorneys two extra paid weeks off after a birth or adoption (the total is now eight weeks, plus disability and unpaid leave), with the option of working a 60% schedule for three months upon their return.

Female Equity Partners 20%
Female Nonequity Partners 20%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 12%

Duane Morris
Philadelphia, PA
Women: 30%
Check it out: Unorthodox schedules are increasingly popular at this firm’s 20 U.S. offices: In 2012, 80% of its lawyers flexed their hours or telecommuted, while 14% worked part-time. Impressively, 95% of them also received management or leadership education.

Female Equity Partners 9%
Female Nonequity Partners 26%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 14%

Faegre Baker Daniels
Global
Women: 37%
Check it out: The Women’s Forum for Achievement offered by this firm boasts a wide range of useful programs for lawyers, with educational sessions, discussion groups and workshops that cover success strategies, sponsorship, mentoring, leadership development and more.

Female Equity Partners 20%
Female Nonequity Partners 31%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 9%

Farella Braun + Martel
San Francisco, CA
Women: 36%
Check it out: About a quarter of female lawyers here reduce their hours by 10% to 30%, but it doesn’t affect their candidacy for key roles or assignments. (Paid sabbaticals are available, too.) Women equity partners chair four of 14 practice groups and departments.

Female Equity Partners 16%
Female Nonequity Partners 70%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 26%

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Washington, DC
Women: 32%
Check it out: The future is bright for lawyers at this firm, who receive formal mentoring and enjoy new litigation and business development training programs. On-site fitness and day care centers enhance their personal lives.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners 25%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 14%

Foley & Lardner
Milwaukee, WI
Women: 27%
Check it out: Customized work arrangements, an affinity group for users of alternative schedules, and "working parent coaches" help lawyers here raise families. Special coaching programs and retreats are aimed at women; all assignments are monitored for gender parity.

Female Equity Partners 13%
Female Nonequity Partners 18%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 6%

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
New York, NY
Women: 50%
Check it out: Half of all management and compensation committee members are female at this botique firm, along with more than a third of equity partners. A new women's initiative helps attorneys obtain mentors, develop clients and pusue partnership.

Female Equity Partners 38%
Female Nonequity Partners 29%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 9%

Fredrikson & Byron
Minneapolis, MN
Women: 38%
Check it out: Talented lawyers gravitate to this firm’s abundant networking events and may be sponsored to attend external conferences and development programs. In 2012, women were 46% of the associates and 32% of the partners involved in internal management and leadership training.

Female Equity Partners 31%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 24%

Gibbons
Newark, NJ
Women: 25%
Check it out: “Mentoring Mondays” find partners at this firm advising female attorneys on work life balance, building their business and other topics; intensive training lifts rising stars. Women occupy 60% of executive administration positions and head 33% of practice groups.

Female Equity Partners 17%
Female Nonequity Partners 21%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Godfrey & Kahn
Milwaukee, WI
Women: 31%
Check it out: Boasting career-friendly flexible schedules and a respected non-partnership track, this firm currently has 60% more female lawyers in top roles than it did in 2003. Appointed advisors guide all of its attorneys; its Women’s Leadership Forum inspires.

Female Equity Partners 19%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 5%

Goodwin Procter
Boston, MA
Women: 35%
Check it out: Revised in 2012, the FlexWork program here makes it easier for lawyers to slash their hours by 20% to 50% or telecommute. Users variously leave the office early, shorten their weeks, or stagger "on" periods, counseled by flex coaches and mentors.

Female Equity Partners 14%
Female Nonequity Partners 31%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 6%

Hanson Bridgett
San Francisco, CA
Women: 36%
Check it out: With a formidable women’s initiative, dedicated business development workshops and external rainmaker programs, this firm helps female attorneys flourish. Moms (who are 27% of partners) like its in-house sessions on child safety and college financing.

Female Equity Partners 27%
Female Nonequity Partners 26%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 30%

Haynes and Boone
Dallas, TX
Women: 30%
Check it out: Every senior female associate at this firm participates in its Women’s Leadership Academy, a two-year training program that introduces them to influential partners and helps them explore the skills, strategies and branding techniques they must master to advance.

Female Equity Partners 17%
Female Nonequity Partners 18%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 12%

Hogan Lovells
Global
Women: 37%
Check it out:Women direct 31% of practice groups at this firm, where flexible schedules and off-site work are championed by the Alternative Work Arrangements Committee, and all 12 offices enjoy regular development events organized by branches of the women’s initiative.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners 33%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Holland & Hart
Denver, CO
Women: 33%
Check it out: Attorneys here know that they won’t be rendered ineligible for management or partnership positions if they work reduced hours—in fact, four women who did so made equity partner in 2012. What’s more, partners may take a paid sabbatical every five years.

Female Equity Partners 27%
Female Nonequity Partners 9%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 18%

Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
Detroit, MI
Women: 26%
Check it out: To help its female nonequity partners broaden their horizons, this firm provides business development training and mentoring from its Committee on Women Attorney Initiatives. This year, women earned 33% of equity partner promotions.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners 30%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 6%

Hunton & Williams
Washington, DC
Women: 34%
Check it out: There’s plenty for parents here to love, from 18 weeks of paid primary caregiver leave to $5,000 in adoption aid to subsidized concierge and dependent backup care programs. In 2012, 27% of female attorneys worked off-site or reduced their hours.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 14%

Ice Miller
Indianapolis, IN
Women: 37%
Check it out: Intensive mentoring is a boon to new lawyers at this firm, who work with both peers and partners to strengthen core skills and devise long-range plans. On-site exercise classes, reimbursed gym memberships and $1,000 health-savings-account grants encourage fitness.

Female Equity Partners 24%
Female Nonequity Partners 22%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 9%

Jenner & Block
Chicago, IL
Women: 35%
Check it out: Women broker alliances in this firm’s business programs, pro bono sessions, non-profit leadership initiatives and networking events. Its Mother’s Circle provides support and information to new parents and helps them transition back to work after a birth or adoption.

Female Equity Partners 16%
Female Nonequity Partners 30%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Katten Muchin Rosenman
Chicago, IL
Women: 35%
Check it out: Innovative work solutions give attorneys here personal freedom. Eligible associates may adjust their schedules while on the partnership track, take paid sabbaticals after five years or phase back to work for three months after their parental leave ends.

Female Equity Partners 16%
Female Nonequity Partners 33%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 8%

Kirkland & Ellis
Chicago, IL
Women: 29%
Check it out: "Busy" doesn’t begin to describe this firm’s 2012 agenda: it launched a wealth of managerial and leadership workshops, created a proprietary attorney business development program, staged two major women’s forums and treated female lawyers to 70 special events.

Female Equity Partners 13%
Female Nonequity Partners 31%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 3%

Latham & Watkins
Global
Women: 36%
Check it out: Empowerment is the mission of this firm’s new Women’s Leadership Academy, which provides female senior associates with the type of education and training that spawns distinguished careers. Broad-based mentoring and networking initiatives reinforce its lessons.

Female Equity Partners 16%
Female Nonequity Partners 37%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 4%

Leonard, Street and Deinard
Minneapolis, MN
Women: 31%
Check it out: Under recruiting director Kari Jensen Thomas (former president of the non-profit Minnesota Women Lawyers), this firm has nearly doubled its female attorney population since 2009, drawing job seekers with inventive programs, thoughtful scheduling policies and family-friendly perks.

Female Equity Partners 20%
Female Nonequity Partners 39%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 10%

Lindquist & Vennum
Minneapolis, MN
Women: 29%
Check it out: Multiple paths lead toward the top here. All associates choose partner-mentors and are coached on client development from year four. Working part-time, taking family leave, telecommuting or switching off and on the partnership track does not derail their progress.

Female Equity Partners 21%
Female Nonequity Partners 36%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 16%

Littler Mendelson
San Francisco, CA
Women: 49%
Check it out: Showing support for its diverse workforce, this firm maintains myriad affinity groups and a vital women’s leadership initiative, along with sterling benefits and flex schedules. In 2012, 63% of associates, 76% of counsel and 32% of partners (equity and nonequity) were women.

Female Equity Partners 27%
Female Nonequity Partners 50%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 3%

Lowenstein Sandler
Roseland, NJ
Women: 31%
Check it out: Thanks to a new policy, attorneys here may take unlimited paid time off, whenever and however they like, so long as they strive to hit their annual billable hours target. Everyone at the firm regularly works from home.

Female Equity Partners 14%
Female Nonequity Partners 11%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 6%

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
Los Angeles, CA
Women: 35%
Check it out: Female lawyers bonded with top clients at the inaugural summit held by this firm’s women’s initiative in May 2012, which found attendees exploring the best ways to accelerate their professional growth. Regular panels foster conversations with partners.

Female Equity Partners 15%
Female Nonequity Partners 31%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 8%

McGuireWoods
Richmond, VA
Women: 34%
Check it out: Lightening your workload won’t impact your odds of making equity partner here: Lawyers may decrease their hours by up to 40% or telecommute up to two days per week and still be considered for promotion. Quarterly career conferences give women a boost.

Female Equity Partners 12%
Female Nonequity Partners 22%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg
Chicago, IL
Women: 28%
Check it out: Women comprise 22% of this firm’s practice group heads, 60% of its senior management team and 63% of its committee chairs and co-chairs. Personalized business plans, affinity groups, mentoring sessions and reduced schedules aid attorneys.

Female Equity Partners 14%
Female Nonequity Partners 30%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 15%

Norton Rose Fullbright
Houston, TX
Women: 34%
Check it out: When partnership promotions were announced here in January, women scored 63%, up from 40% in 2012. Attorneys who are caregivers appreciate the firm’s 14-week maternity and adoption leave, $7,500 in adoption aid and subsidized backup dependent care.

Female Equity Partners 19%
Female Nonequity Partners 40%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 13%

O'Melveny & Myers
Global
Women: 41%
Check it out: To juggle both their on- and off-duty responsibilities, women here take advantage of formal alternative work options, 18 paid weeks of maternity leave, dependent backup care, parenting groups and sabbaticals that last up to two years.

Female Equity Partners 13%
Female Nonequity Partners 25%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 5%

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
New York, NY
Women: 37%
Check it out: As a longtime advocate for female lawyers, the women’s initiative at this firm not only monitors their advancement, it also maintains essential business and networking groups and steadily generates development opportunities (notably, a one-year seminar for partners).

Female Equity Partners 19%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 8%

Paul Hastings
Los Angeles, CA
Women: 40%
Check it out: Female attorneys chair this firm’s corporate and employment practices and direct its Los Angeles and Washington, DC, offices—but those at all levels benefit from flex schedules, unlimited vacation, generous parental leave and 50+ annual women’s events.

Female Equity Partners 17%
Female Nonequity Partners 24%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Perkins Coie
Seattle, WA
Women: 31%
Check it out: With its new Flexible Career Paths Policy, this firm gives lawyers greater control over the structure of their professional lives. Work life balance and parenting groups, along with formal mentors and an in-house career coach, help women make informed choices.

Female Equity Partners 15%
Female Nonequity Partners 37%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 14%

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
New York, NY
Women: 33%
Check it out: Designated partners counsel attorneys here through maternity, adoption or surrogacy leave and alternative work options; new moms often go part-time for 60 days on their return. Lawyers can also work remotely, using firm equipment.

Female Equity Partners 17%
Female Nonequity Partners 22%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 20%

Quarles & Brady
Milwaukee, WI
Women: 37%
Check it out: Good things await lawyers here, from high-level training programs, multifaceted mentoring initiatives and stimulating Women’s Forum events to a fully subsidized Executive MBA (via Notre Dame University). Women are 33% of all leaders; flexible schedules abound.

Female Equity Partners 22%
Female Nonequity Partners 39%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Reed Smith
Global
Women: 36%
Check it out: Women can go far at this firm, which tracks diversity metrics to ensure their progress. In 2012, they led 28% of major client teams, held 31% of top jobs and made up 40% of the executive committee. Backup child care supports working parents.

Female Equity Partners 22%
Female Nonequity Partners 22%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Schiff Hardin
Chicago, IL
Women: 37%
Check it out: Mothers praise this firm’s three-month paid maternity leave, phase-back policies and flex schedules, with some (including associate Molly Lynch and partner Theresa Marx) testifying to promotions, expanded responsibilities and greater client access after baby.

Female Equity Partners 22%
Female Nonequity Partners 33%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Seyfarth Shaw
Chicago, IL
Women: 39%
Check it out: Senior associates here climb the career ladder with advice from a nationwide women’s network, mentors, sponsors and flextime coaches. Women lead the firm’s New York and Los Angeles offices and chair its two largest practice departments.

Female Equity Partners 15%
Female Nonequity Partners 27%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 10%

Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Kansas City, MO
Women: 38%
Check it out: Guided by this firm’s flex policy advisor, female attorneys (who make up 29% of office managing partners and 50% of office administrative partners) can adjust their hours, shorten their days, telecommute or phase back to work after childbirth or adoption.

Female Equity Partners 21%
Female Nonequity Partners 29%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 9%

Sidley Austin
Chicago, IL
Women: 33%
Check it out: This firm made huge strides in 2012. It launched a task force on retaining and advancing women, piloted a cross-marketing program for female attorneys, hosted panels on reduced schedules and rolled out a set of parental leave transition guidelines.

Female Equity Partners 21%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 7%

Thompson Hine
Cleveland, OH
Women: 31%
Check it out: Mentoring circles, professional development programs and a business-leader luncheon series help female associates advance here (this year, 25% of all new equity partners are women). New moms get 14 paid weeks off, plus special career guidance.

Female Equity Partners 18%
Female Nonequity Partners 28%
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 6%

Vinson & Elkins
Houston, TX
Women: 35%
Check it out: The Women’s Career Development Council at this firm supports attorneys by generating professional opportunities; connecting them with clients, colleagues and alumni; and recommending work life policies that promote balance. Everyone adjusts their hours or telecommutes as needed.

Female Equity Partners 19%
Female Nonequity Partners N/A
Lawyers Working Reduced Hours 8%

WilmerHale
Global
Women: 43%
Check it out: Women have earned 46% of promotions to equity partner here since 2009; after a decade in that role, they get paid sabbaticals. Formal flextime and remote work schedules, alternate career tracks, great leadership programs and backup dependent care also impress.