Hundreds of lawyers gathered at the majestic Cipriani in New York City on December 5 to celebrate law firms that value, support and advance women. The Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers 50 Best Law Firms for Women initiative, now in its sixth year, is featured in the latest issue of Working Mother—and the awards have now been bestowed on firms such as Arent Fox, Hogan Lovells and McGuire Woods (see the complete list here).

Along with a festive cocktail reception and awards luncheon at the posh venue, this year’s Career Accelerator Summit for Women in Law also featured a morning workshop and a lunch panel to help promote women lawyers' leadership, sponsorship and business development. Hosted by Working Mother Media president Carol Evans and Flex-Time Lawyers president Deborah Epstein Henry, the event's speakers and panelists included Susan L. Lees, executive vice president and general counsel for Allstate Insurance, and Julie Sweet, general counsel, secretary and chief compliance officer for Accenture. 

Evans kicked off the gala lunch by sharing stats from the initiative's Executive Summary. “Here at the winning law firms, we see that firms with female managing partners rose from 16 percent the first year we measured to 20 percent today,” she said. Evans added that the percentage of female chairpersons at the 50 Best Law Firms had also increased, from just 2 percent in 2007 to 12 percent in 2012. In addition, a significantly increasing number of these firms support women through leadership training, networking and mentoring.

“There’s real momentum now,” said Henry when she took the podium. “We’re going beyond scratching the surface in terms of programs and policies. We’re really digging down and looking more at representation of women, usage rates of policies and how to get women not only retained but also promoted to leadership ranks.” She mentioned a startling statistic—that one-third of women leave the profession independent of maternity leave, an issue she discusses in Working Mother.

While the winning law firms have much to be proud of, Evans reminded Summit attendees that there is still a lot of room for improvement—something the 50 Best Law Firms initiative can help make happen. “You are offering more programs than are being used by women,” said Evans. “One of the things you need to do when you go back to your law firms is to work on how to encourage your female associates and partners, etc. to utilize the benefits you put into place and not leave them on the table.“