Best
Wo m e n 2019
Law Firms
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Workingmother.com | August/September 2019 29
Arnold & Porter
Washington, D.C.
Chairman Richard Alexander
Women’s Initiative Leader
Anne Davis
The new Lattes with Leaders
and Pearls of Wisdom speaker
series explores career
trajectories of women leaders
at the firm and highlights the
variety of pathways to success.
Baker, Donelson,
Bearman, Caldwell &
Berkowitz Memphis, TN
President and Chief Operating
Officer Jennifer Keller
Shareholder, Chair of Women’s
Initiative Christy Crider
For the fourth consecutive
year, the new shareholder
class is more than 50 percent
women. Nearly half of the new
shareholders utilized the firm’s
parental-leave policy.
BakerHostetler
Cleveland, OH
Chairman Paul M. Schmidt
Chair, Women’s Committee
Emily Crosby
The firm now works with
Ellevate, a global professional
network for women. This gives
attorneys in-person events,
mentoring, leadership workshops,
access to a professional-
development resource library,
and thought-leadership
opportunities.
Baker McKenzie
HALL OF FAME Chicago, IL
North America Managing
Partner Colin Murray
Managing Partner, Chicago
Office Regine Corrado
Following its pilot program in
2017, the firm last year
launched Leaders Investing for
Tomorrow (LIFT), focused on
elevating female non-equity
partners to equity partner/
principal. Twenty-five percent
of pilot participants advanced
to principal.Ballard Spahr
Philadelphia, PA
Chair Mark Stewart
Partners Denise Plunkett and
Melanie Vartabedian
Associate Leaders Lea Phillips
and Jane Siegfried
Sponsorship pilot program
Invest provides career-
development opportunities to
lawyers who have overcome
significant obstacles in pursuit
of a legal career, come from a
disadvantaged background, or
are from underrepresented
groups, including women.Bass, Berry & Sims
Nashville, TN
Managing Partner Todd Rolapp
Chair, Women’s Initiative
Lisa Rivera
The Women’s Initiative (WIN)
group launched a mentoringprogram open to all women
attorneys. Goals include
educating on the structure of
the firm, guiding client develop-
ment strategies, supporting
leadership positions, and
sharing experiences on profes-
sional and personal demands.Blank Rome Philadelphia, PA
Managing Partner and CEO
Grant Palmer
Partner, Chair of Women’s
Forum Deborah Skakel
The 2018 Women’s Leadership
Summit assembled 120 women
lawyers who collaborated to
“hack” the topics of leadership,
diversity and inclusion, and
delivering value and increasing
organizational efficiency.Brownstein Hyatt
Farber Schreck
FIRST-TIMER Denver, CO
Managing Partner
Rich BenensonShareholders Nicole Ament
and Ali Metzl
Daunting to Doable, a six-month
pilot program, was launched to
provide high-performing
attorneys with an individualized
plan to enhance the generation
of business. Seven of nine
participants were female. The
second cohort launched in
January 2019 with four women
out of six participants.Chapman and Cutler
HALL OF FAME Chicago, IL
Chief Executive Partner
Timothy Mohan
Women’s Affinity Group
Chairs Rebecca Wallenfelsz
and Kim Alhgrim
In 2018, three of five partners
advanced to equity partner, and
half of those promoted to
income partner were women.
Over the past three years,
promotions to equity partner
and to income partner were
50 percent women.For the 12th year, Working Mother recognizes law firms that hire
and promote more women lawyers. They increasingly offer flexible
workplaces and women’s leadership programs. We honor firms that
have made this list for at least 10 years in our new Hall of Fame.METHODOLOGY
The 2019 Working Mother Best Law Firms for Women
application includes more than 300 questions about
attorney representation at different levels, schedule
flexibility, paid time off and parental leaves, and
development and retention of women. Profiles are
culled from the applications and reflect 2018 U.S. data.