Biglaw, Rankings

The Top 10 Most Family-Friendly Law Firms (2017)

Your law firm owes it to you to let you be a parent. Which firm does it best?

By  
on

Today’s Biglaw firm is different than that of yesteryear. Law firms are now more progressive, and to that end, parenthood no longer seems to be an inconvenience for attorneys. Despite the many gender discrimination suits that have been filed in recent months, gender equity indicators at large law firms seem to be on the rise. Some firms may give lip service to work/life balance, but other firms truly deliver on their family-friendly policies. Right now, in 2017, it is possible to be an attorney with a family when working at a large law firm thanks to generous parental leave plans and part-time and flex-time working arrangements.

But which firms are the best when it comes to these policies?

Today, the Yale Law Women released its annual list of the Top 10 Family-Friendly Firms. We cover this list every year (see our posts from 2016, 2015, 2014,2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008). How has this list changed year over year? Which firms made the cut in 2017? Which firms had the best options available to both women and men? Let’s take a look at the latest rankings.

Here’s the list of the most family-friendly firms according to Yale Law Women:

  • Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer
  • Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
  • Jenner & Block
  • King & Spalding
  • Morrison & Foerster
  • Munger, Tolles & Olson
  • O’Melveny & Myers
  • Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
  • Proskauer Rose
  • Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

In 2017, the following firms were dropped from the list after having made an appearance last year: Foley Hoag; Foley & Lardner; Goodwin Procter; K&L Gates; Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky & Popeo; Vinson & Elkins; and WilmerHale. That’s more than half of last year’s honorees, for those of you who are keeping count. Why was there such a shake-up? Cecilia Cheng, chair of the YLW 2017 Family Friendly Firms Initiative, told us what happened:

The main difference between this year’s report and last year’s report is that we returned to surveying firms directly instead of pulling NALP data, mostly due to timing of when NALP data is updated. That said, the Top Ten list generally shifts every year, because many of our survey questions ask about what firms have done in the previous year to promote family friendliness. For example, we ask the firms how many attorneys worked part-time in 2016, how many took caregiver leave, how many women were promoted to leadership, etc. Accordingly, the list is highly dependent on what is happening with firm culture within that slice of time. We feel that our mix of questions allows us to capture both firms that are consistently leaders in family friendliness, as well as any firms that have been making major strides in the past year.

Sponsored

The three returning firms are Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer (Arnold & Porter is an institution on this list, and has been recognized every year since YLW first issued its rankings in 2006; it’s nice to see that the firm remains even after its merger with Kaye Scholer), MoFo (honored for the fourth year in a row), and O’Melveny (honored for the second year in a row). These three firms are joined by Cleary Gottlieb (this is the firm’s first appearance on the list since 2009), Jenner & Block (this is the firm’s first appearance on the list since 2009), King & Spalding (this is the firm’s first ever appearance on the list), Munger Tolles (the firm returns to the list after dropping off in 2016 and previously being honored in 2014 and 2015), Proskauer Rose (this is the firm’s first appearance on the list since 2007), Orrick (the firm returns to the list after dropping off in 2016, and previously being honored from 2012 to 2015) and Simpson Thacher (this is the firm’s first appearance on the list since 2006).

Here’s a round-up of useful information about some of the YLW study’s findings:

• Part-Time & Flex-Time Policies – Of participating firms, 5% of associates worked on part-time schedules. Alumni ranked availability and use of part-time policies as the most important category in assessing family friendliness.

• Family Leave – The industry norm offers 18 weeks for primary caregiver leave, and most law firms now offer gender-neutral leave policies. Alumni reported that a firm’s written policy does not necessarily reveal its cultural norms around taking leave, noting the importance of encouraging men to take leave as well.

• Gender Equity – Among participating firms, 45% of associates were women and 23% of partners were women. Alumni indicated that the presence of women in leadership roles creates a powerful signal to young women associates that women at the firm have a path to partnership.

The YLW also awarded Category Honors in those three categories:

Part-Time & Flex-Time Policies

Sponsored

  • Hunton & Williams; Squire Patton Boggs; and Perkins Coie have the highest percentage of associates working on part-time schedules.
  • Orrick; MoFo; and Munger Tolles had the highest percentage of attorneys promoted to partner in 2016 who had worked on part-time or flexible full-time schedules.

Family Leave

  • Orrick; Wilson Sonsini; and Winston & Strawn offered the greatest number of weeks to associates for caregiver leave.
  • Linklaters; Jenner & Block; and Mintz Levin had the highest percentage of male associates and partners who took caregiver leave in 2016.

Gender Equity

  • Perkins Coie; Steptoe & Johnson; and Simpson Thacher are firms where more than 50 percent of attorneys who were promoted to partner in 2016 are women.
  • Executive or management committees consist of at least 40 percent women at Latham & Watkins and MoFo.
  • At least 25 percent of equity partners are women at WilmerHale and Ropes & Gray.

Please click here (PDF) to see the full report from Yale Law Women.

The Yale Law Women have been conducting this study for 12 years, and while vast improvements have been made in terms of parental accommodations offerings, there is still a lot of work to be done. We said this in the past, but it bears repeating in a world where Biglaw parents are having a tough time being parents to their children: “The legal profession has come a long way in terms of attempting to afford equal opportunities for success for both men and women, but it’s still got a long way to go. Why are lawyers still hurrying up and waiting for change? We shouldn’t be applauding a system that, in most cases, penalizes parents.” For all of the hours that you put in, your law firm owes it to you to let you be a parent. We thank those firms that have done right by their associates.

Congratulations to all of the Biglaw firms that made the latest edition of the Yale Law Women Family-Friendly Firm rankings. How did your firm do this time around? Email us, text us at (646) 820-8477, or tweet us @atlblog.

The Family Friendly Firms of 2017 [Yale Law Women]

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky has been an editor at Above the Law since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Topics

, , , , , , , , , , , ,