Biglaw, Rankings, Women's Issues

Which Firms Offer Women The Most Power And Highest Pay? (2015)

In a profession ruled by men, these Biglaw firms have taken steps to level the playing field for women.

By  
on

Year in and year out, within the prestigious enclave of Biglaw firms, women continue to get the shaft. We’ve said it once, and we’ll say it again: “Biglaw lives to serve men, and in most cases, they are the ones claiming all of the power, the prestige, and most importantly, the money, while women are left in the dust.” At some large law firms, however, it’s a different story. Some firms offer women the chance to rise through the ranks to become major power players and to receive startlingly booming compensation — and rank among the most family-friendly.

Thanks to the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF), we have a way to find out exactly which firms are on top when it comes to offering women attorneys the chance to perform on par with their male colleagues in terms of prestige and pay.

WILEF offers Biglaw firms with 300 or more lawyers practicing in the U.S. (last year, the cut off was 200 lawyers) the chance to become Gold Standard-certified, meaning that they must comply with four of six benchmarks meant to drive women lawyers to succeed in business development and leadership roles. Here are the 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.

This year, 44 firms made the cut, compared to last year’s showing of 45 firms. Biglaw firms continue to tout their commitment to women’s initiatives, yet once again, not even half of the Am Law 100 appears on this list. In fact, a wider range of law firms was up for inclusion in this year’s ranking, and still, one less firm was able to make the cut. It’s a bit disheartening when you think of it that way — but not to worry, there are some bright spots in the data WILEF culled from America’s Biglaw firms, which we’ll discuss later. For now, here are the 2015 recipients of Gold Standard certification:

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz
Ballard Spahr
Bryan Cave
Cooley
Davis Polk & Wardwell
Davis Wright Tremaine
Dentons US
DLA Piper (US)
Dorsey & Whitney
Faegre Baker Daniels
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Haynes and Boone
Hogan Lovells
Holland & Hart
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Jackson Lewis
K&L Gates
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton
Latham & Watkins
Lathrop & Gage
Littler Mendelson
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
McCarter & English
McKenna Long & Aldridge
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius
Norton Rose Fulbright
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Paul Hastings
Paul, Weiss, Rifkin, Wharton & Garrison
Perkins Coie
Polsinelli
Quarles & Brady
Reed Smith
Schiff Hardin
Shearman & Sterling
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
Steptoe & Johnson
Stinson Leonard Street
Stoel Rives
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan
Thompson Coburn

Although WILEF doesn’t tell us how the firms stack up against one another in terms of the criteria needed for certification, we do know that only seven firms met all six benchmarks. Those firms are: Finnegan Henderson (recertified for the fifth year in a row); Hogan Lovells (recertified for the third year in a row); Holland & Hart (recertified for the third time in a row in all six criteria); Littler (recertified for the fifth year in a row); Reed Smith (recertified for the fifth year in a row in all six criteria); Schiff Hardin (recertified for the third year in a row); Shook Hardy & Bacon (recertified for the fifth year in a row in all six criteria); and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan (recertified for the fourth year in a row).

Sponsored

It’s worth noting that none of these seven firms are New York-based, and none of them come close to landing at the top of the firms with the highest profits per partner. Are women only receiving treatment as equals at smaller firms outside big cities?

Vivia Chen of The Careerist also received a copy of the list, and here’s what she observed:

The outlook for women looks brighter. Seriously. Yes, I can scarcely believe it myself. …

So what’s the good news in this year’s WILEF results? Two developments jumped out at me about the winning firms:

– Women made up 37 percent of lawyers promoted to equity partnership in the U.S. in the last 12 months.

– Women represented 27 percent of members on governance committees and 25 percent of members on compensation committees.

I’m surprised at those figures—and so apparently is WILEF. The uptick in the percentage of female partners “is a greater percentage than expected,” says WILEF certification chair Libby McGarry, a former partner at Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett. “This bodes well for the percentage of women equity partners overall in the near future.”

Perhaps things are looking up for women in the legal profession after all. On the other hand, there were some notable dropouts from last year. For example, big-name firms like MoFo and Nixon Peabody are no longer present, and Cahill Gordon & Reindel, which made its first appearance on the list last year, disappeared in the blink of an eye. We wonder what’s going on at these firms. If you have any information, please reach out to us via email. We keep all of our tipsters anonymous.

Of the firms that were certified on WILEF’s 2015 list, which had the highest percentage of female attorneys on their management committees? We have data from the American Lawyer that dates back to January 2013 (and we’d love to see this list be updated). Things may have changed since that time, but the top-rated firms then were Cooley (25 percent); Fulbright & Jaworski (now known as Norton Rose Fulbright) (50 percent); Paul Hastings (26 percent); Reed Smith (38 percent); Shook Hardy & Bacon (36 percent); and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan (33 percent).

Sponsored

Last, but not least, if you’re wondering which firms offer women the chance to attain a sense of work/life balance through family-friendly programming while they’re busy making bank, they are as follows: Hogan Lovells US and and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe (recently featured in these pages for its generous parental leave policy).

In all, if we had to pick a winner this year, it seems like it would be a toss-up between Reed Smith, Hogan Lovells (US), Shook Hardy & Bacon, and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Each firm makes an appearance on two of the “best of” lists mentioned above, allowing women attorneys to earn top compensation while offering them leadership opportunities and an active family life. We commend you on a job well done.

Congratulations to all of the firms that met WILEF’s criteria for Gold Standard certification. You have our thanks for rising to the top of the Biglaw pack when it comes to women’s empowerment. We still have a long way to go, but these firms are making big strides in the right direction.

WILEF Certification [Women in Law Empowerment Forum]
Top Firms for Women for Equity and Power [The Careerist]

Earlier: The Top 10 Most Family-Friendly Law Firms (2015)
Leading Lady Lawyers: Ranking the Am Law 100 By Women in Leadership Roles

Topics

, , , , , ,