July 1 – It’s gold again for Reed Smith LLP, as the firm earned another top ranking in the 2015 Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) certification process.
“We are never surprised to be ranked among the nation’s best at empowering female attorneys,” said Sandy Thomas, Reed Smith’s Global Managing Partner. “Gender equity is among this firm’s longstanding priorities and we all work hard to achieve it every single day; that’s why we welcome and celebrate WILEF’s acknowledgement that our firm remains a leader in this key performance area for 2015.”
Reed Smith’s 2015 Gold Standard Certification is the firm’s fifth in a row, a significant accomplishment considering the certification’s inaugural year was 2011. Reed Smith is one of only two firms in the United States that has met all six criteria for Gold Standard Certification every year.
Law firms with at least 300 attorneys in the United States were eligible to participate in the 2015 Gold Standard Certification process. This year’s criteria required that a firm’s women attorneys comprised:
- 20 percent of equity partners or a third of the non-lateral attorneys elevated to equity partner in the past 12 months
- 10 percent of its chairs and managing partners
- 20 percent of its primary governance committee
- 20 percent of its compensation committee
- 25 percent of its practice group leaders or department heads
- 10 percent of the top half of the firm's most highly compensated partners
Several industry analyses of the 2015 results cited Reed Smith’s 2015 Gold Standard Certification performance and its noteworthy consistency in meeting all six criteria in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Nationwide, just 44 of the firms seeking certification this year met at least four of the six criteria, one fewer firm in 2014.
“Reed Smith is able to post these results because it is unique among large law firms,” said Kit Chaskin, global director of the Women’s Initiative Network of Reed Smith (WINRS). “Over many years, senior management, and men and women at Reed Smith have worked together with our clients to address the realities facing women who are seeking to build sustainable and fulfilling careers in a changing marketplace. It’s frosting on the cake to earn a fifth consecutive Gold Standard Certification from WILEF for our empowerment results.”
About Reed Smith
Reed Smith is a global relationship law firm with more than 1,800 lawyers in 26 offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Founded in 1877, the firm represents leading international businesses, from Fortune 100 corporations to mid-market and emerging enterprises. Its lawyers provide litigation and other dispute-resolution services in multi-jurisdictional and other high-stakes matters; deliver regulatory counsel; and execute the full range of strategic domestic and cross-border transactions. Reed Smith is a preeminent advisor to industries including financial services, life sciences, health care, advertising, entertainment and media, shipping and transport, energy and natural resources, real estate, manufacturing and technology, and education. For more information, visit reedsmith.com.
U.S.: Century City, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, Richmond, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Washington, D.C., Wilmington
Europe: Athens, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris
Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Dubai
Asia: Beijing, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Shanghai, Singapore