The 50 Best Law Firms for Women

Summary: Find out which law firms offer the best balance between work and life for women.
 

 

• Diversity has become an increasingly large part of law and law firms.
• Female attorneys have begun to benefit through law firms that offer more of a life-friendly balance.
• These firms also take into account that some women attorneys want to start families.
• This reveals that the evolution of law is real and happening for everyone in the legal industry.

While law schools and law firms strive to be more diverse in an overall effort to equal the practice of law for all genders and ethnic backgrounds, there remains much to be done toward leveling out playing field of law.

Recently, Working Mother, a leading website that highlights and offers support to women in the professional workplace, provided this year’s list of the 50 best law firms that in the words of the Working Mother website that recognized, “U.S. law firms that create and use best practices in retaining and promoting women lawyers.”

As Working Mother explains, among this year's winning firms, women make up an average of 20 percent of all equity partners, and they hold over a quarter of the seats on both the executive and the finance committees.

The following profiles of the Best Law Firms for Women detail how well women are represented in the partnership of each firm and highlight benefits offered for parents.

The website explains that one key takeaway of this list were these firms lead the industry in offering generous parental leave benefits and support flexible work arrangements. All this, along with flexible hours, reduced hours and the option to work from home, would invariably make life far easier for moms and dads who seek to remain in the profession, despite having children.

Below is Working Mother’s list of the top 50 law firms for Women
 

Firm Name	Location	Equity Partners	Nonequity Partners
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer	Washington, DC	20%	N/A
Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz	National	18%	36%
Baker McKenzie	National	21%	34%
Blank Rome	National	9%	30%
Chapman and Cutler	Chicago, IL	20%	37%
Cooley	Chicago, IL	22%	N/A
Crowell & Moring	Washington, DC	20%	27%
Davis Wright Tremaine	Seattle, WA	24%	25%
Dentons US	National	18%	25%
DLA Piper	National	20%	N/A
Dorsey & Whitney	Minneapolis, MN	21%	31%
Drinker Biddle & Reath	National	22%	20%
Faegre Baker Daniels	National	20%	38%
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner	Washington, DC	21%	34%
Fisher Phillips	National	18%	36%
Foley & Lardner	National	13%	24%
Fox Rothschild	National	20%	31%
Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz	New York, NY	38%	33%
Fredrikson & Byron	Minneapolis, MN	35%	N/A
Goodwin	National	17%	35%
Gray Plant Mooty	Minneapolis, MN	29%	N/A
Hanson Bridgett	San Francisco, CA	37%	26%
Hogan Lovells	Washington, DC	23%	27%
Holland & Hart	Denver, CO	27%	47%
Hunton & Williams	National	18%	N/A
Husch Blackwell	National	14%	27%
Ice Miller	Indianapolis, IN	23%	31%
Katten Muchin Rosenman	Chicago, IL	21%	26%
King & Spalding	National	16%	29%
Kirkland & Ellis	Chicago, IL	15%	28%
Latham & Watkins	National	15%	42%
Lindquist & Vennum	Minneapolis, MN	26%	38%
Littler Mendelson	National	28%	56%
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips	Los Angeles, CA	20%	26%
McDermott Will & Emery	National	20%	37%
McGuireWoods	National	15%	23%
Morrison & Foerster	San Francisco, CA	23%	N/A
Norton Rose Fulbright	Houston, TX	21%	16%
O'Melveny & Myers	National	18%	40%
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe	National	17%	23%
Perkins Coie	Seattle, WA	18%	36%
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman	New York, NY	18%	23%
Quarles & Brady	Milwaukee, WI	21%	46%
Reed Smith	National	21%	23%
Schiff Hardin	Chicago, IL	24%	30%
Seyfarth Shaw	Chicago, IL	18%	27%
Shook, Hardy & Bacon	Kansas City, MO	23%	40%
Sidley Austin	National	24%	N/A
WilmerHale	National	25%	N/A
Winston & Strawn	National	14%	32%

 
In Conclusion

These 50 law firms demonstrate a commitment to change within the BigLaw system that has been a long time coming. For women to know there are law firms that are accepting of real-life situations beyond law, give hope for not just the diversity that many inside and out of the legal practice system should come to expect, but that the legal practice system needs to survive the changing world around it.

See the following articles for more information:
 

• Family Law Attorneys: In Your Experience, Who Pays More For Divorce - Men Or Women?
• Common Obstacles For Women Lawyers
• 5 Steps To Fighting Sexual Harassment Within Law Firms