The “Best Law Firms for Women” initiative annually celebrates the U.S. firms with 50 or more attorneys that are the most successful in retaining and promoting women lawyers. The recognition follows in the tradition of the groundbreaking “Working Mother 100 Best Companies“ introduced in 1986, which continues to set the standard for family-friendly workplaces nationwide.
“We are honored to again be recognized as a law firm leading the way in creating a workplace culture that supports and advances women,” said Sara A. Begley, Global Chair of the Women’s Initiative at Reed Smith (WINRS). “Gender equality is a business imperative for our firm, and we are justifiably proud of our success in developing, retaining and advancing talented women attorneys.”
Reed Smith’s 2018 “Best Law Firms for Women” nomination touted the firm’s assertive role in increasing the promotion of women to partnership and other leadership positions; its launch of a global “Women in the Courtroom Initiative” to prepare female litigators for leadership roles in litigation and arbitration settings; its participation in the 30% Club’s cross-mentoring program; and its recent gains in work-schedule flexibility, including a new ramp-up policy.
The firm’s PipelineRS success was also described as a factor in the 2017 partnership promotion results firmwide, with women comprising 43.5 percent of those promoted to partnership status last year. “PipelineRS is another of the firm’s strategic investments in driving the talent pipeline by helping to prepare women attorneys for advancement to partner,” said Begley. “True to the tenet that ‘we cannot see what we cannot be,’ having more women in leadership will pave a path forward for the next generation.”
Reed Smith and the other U.S. firms selected as 2018’s Best Law Firms for Women will be honored October 26 at a day-long event at The Peninsula Hotel in Chicago.
The Working Mother Research Institute (WMRI) oversees the Working Mother Best Law Firm Initiative, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, the NAFE Top Companies for Female Executives, and the Best Companies for Multicultural Women.
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