Copyright 2012, Working Mother Media & Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. All rights reserved. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2 Application Methodology Each firm completed a detailed application covering the following sections: Workforce Profile Time Off and Leaves Child Care Flexibility Leadership, Compensation and Advancement of Women Development and Retention of Women Completed applications were collected online from January 13 to April 14, All data for the 2012 survey was collected from the full year of Some comparative data from the 2011 and 2007 surveys is shown and this data was collected for the full year of 2010 and 2006, respectively. Best Law Firms were selected from a pool of self-selected applicant firms with 50 lawyers or more in the United States and only U.S. data was collected. Statistics reported are aggregate based on the data from the 50 Best Law Firms. Answers reported are based on responses provided by applicant firms. Not all firms answered all questions. The capitalized words are defined terms from the survey. 2

3 Summary of Findings: Areas of Achievement Compared with last year s winners, the 2012 Best Law Firms boast a higher number of women on high-level committees. Female lawyers now hold 21% of the seats on the executive committee, up from 19% in 2011, and 21% of the seats on the compensation committee, up from 18% in The percentage of Lawyers using Flex-Time at Best Law Firms continues to increase, with 17% of Lawyers using the flexible work arrangement this year, up from 11% in Best Law Firms continue to provide generous parental leave to their Lawyers, offering 15 weeks of fully paid leave to mother Lawyers, which is up from 14 weeks last year and from 12 weeks the first year of the initiative (2007). In addition, Best Law Firms offer 6 weeks of paid leave to father Lawyers, and 11 weeks of paid leave to adoptive parent Lawyers. The Best Law Firms continue improving their leadership training, networking and mentoring opportunities for women lawyers. All winning firms now hold networking events with their female Lawyers and clients, for example, up from 88% in

4 Summary of Findings: Areas for Improvement Focus on increasing the effectiveness of women in business development. Among the Best Law Firms, only 11% had three women among the top 10 rainmakers, while 31% had no women. Although the Best Law Firms have more female Equity Partners (18%) than the national average (15%), they should work to continue increasing female Equity Partner representation to a critical mass level of 30%. Best Law Firms should work to ensure that flexible work options are viewed as acceptable and consider more lawyers who are working alternative schedules as candidates for partnership. On average, currently only 1 Lawyer per firm is being promoted to Equity Partner while working a Reduced-Hour schedule. Lawyers across all levels at the Best Law Firms continue to leave vacation days unused and don t take the full amount of paid parental leave that firms offer. Best Law Firms should take action to make sure that all attorneys feel comfortable taking paid vacation and leave. 4

5 Women s Representation Declines at Higher Levels While the representation of women declines at the higher levels, the Best Law Firms employ more female Equity Partners (18%) than the national average (15%). Women Men Associates 47% 53% Counsel 42% 58% Non-Equity Partners 28% 72% Equity Partners 18% 82% Source: National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) 2012 Survey Report. 5

6 Partnership Structure s Impact on Women Among the Best Law Firms, women Lawyers represent 21% of Equity Partners versus 17% at two-tier firms. Representation of Equity Partners at One-Tier versus Two-Tier Best Law Firms Female Equity Partners Male Equity Partners One-Tier Firms 21% 79% Two-Tier Firms 17% 83% The national trend is analogous, where women represented 21% of Equity Partners in one-tier firms and 15% of Equity Partners in two-tier firms. Source: National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) 2012 Survey Report. 6

7 Female Promotion Rates Remain Stronger at One-Tier Firms Promotion rates for newly-admitted female Equity Partners are slightly stronger at Firms with one tier, compared with rates at Firms with two tiers. This gap has shrunken recently, to 3 percentage points from 13 percentage points last year. Women Men Promotion of Newly-Admitted Equity Partners one tier Promotion of Newly-Admitted Equity Partners Firms with Promotion of Newly-Admitted Equity Partners two tiers Firms with 29% 26% 71% 74% Promotion of Newly-Admitted Non-Equity Partners 40% 60% 7

8 Representation of Women on Influential Committees At the Best Law Firms, women hold 21% of Executive, 21% of Compensation, and 22% of Equity Partner Promotion Committee seats. The representation of women on the Executive and Compensation Committees increased over last year, when women held 19% of Executive and 18% of Compensation Committee seats. Women Men Executive/Management Committee 21% 79% Compensation/Finance Committee 21% 79% Equity Partner Promotion Committee 22% 78% 8

9 Representation of Women as Firm Leaders: 2007 v Ten Best Law Firms (20%) are led by female managing partners, while six (12%) have female chairpersons. 9

10 Top Ten Rainmakers We asked the Best Law Firms how many of their top ten rainmakers are women. At the 36* firms that answered the question, here s how women are faring in business development: *The data for the 2012 Best Law Firms is based upon 36 out of 50 Best Law Firms answering these questions. 10

11 Leadership Training, Networking & Mentoring: 2007 and 2012 Significantly more Best Law Firms now support women through leadership training, networking and mentoring than did in the first year of our initiative. 11

12 Access to Flexible Work Arrangements Varies All 2012 Best Law Firms offer Flex-Time and Reduced Hours. The Best Law Firms are less generous in offering Annualized Hours and Job Sharing. 12

13 Usage Rates for Flexible Work Arrangements Remain Low The Best Law Firms have more Lawyers working Reduced Hours (9%) than the national average (6%). Source: National Association of Law Placement (NALP)

14 Female Usage Rates for Flex-Time The breakdown of Associates using Flex-Time splits evenly between men and women. More than 40% of Counsel and Non-Equity Partners who use Flex-Time are women. 14

15 Promotion Rates for Reduced Hour Lawyers All 50 Best Law Firms (100%) offer Reduced Hours. 47 of the 50 Best Law Firms (94%) allow Reduced Hour Lawyers to be eligible for Equity Partnership. Last year, of the 10 Lawyers, on average, who were promoted to Non-Equity Partner at the Best Law Firms, an average of 1 Lawyer was working a Reduced-Hour schedule at the time of promotion. Last year, of the 7 Lawyers, on average, who were promoted to Equity Partner at the Best Law Firms, an average of 1 Lawyer was working a Reduced-Hour schedule at the time of promotion. 15

16 Firms offer generous access to parental leave, but Lawyers don't take full advantage of it Number of weeks offered and taken represents the average across Associates, Counsel, Non-Equity Partners, and Equity Partners. 16

17 Child Care Offerings Subsidized in-home backup child care has grown in popularity: 66% of Best Law Firms offer it in 2012, up from 62% in

18 Lawyers don't take full advantage of firms' vacation day offerings 18

19 Affinity Group Offerings More Best Law Firms now offer Affinity Groups specifically for women, multicultural women, multicultural men, LGBT, work life or parenting, and Reduced Hours lawyers. Percentage of Best Law Firms that offer Affinity Groups specifically for: 19

20 Congratulations to the 2012 Best Law Firms for Women Arent Fox LLP Baker & McKenzie LLP Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLP Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Chapman and Cutler LLP Cooley LLP Covington & Burling LLP Crowell & Moring LLP Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Dorsey & Whitney LLP Duane Morris LLP Epstein Becker & Green, P.C. Faegre Baker Daniels Farella Braun + Martel LLP Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP Fredrikson & Byron, P.A. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Gibbons P.C. Goodwin Procter LLP Hanson Bridgett LLP Hogan Lovells US LLP Holland & Knight LLP Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP Hunton & Williams LLP Husch Blackwell LLP Ice Miller LLP Jenner & Block LLP Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP Kirkland & Ellis LLP Latham & Watkins LLP Leonard, Street and Deinard Littler Mendelson Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP McDermott Will & Emery LLP McGuireWoods LLP Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLP Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP Paul Hastings LLP Perkins Coie LLP Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Reed Smith LLP Riddell Williams P.S. Schiff Hardin LLP Seyfarth Shaw LLP Steptoe & Johnson LLP Thompson Hine LLP Vinson & Elkins LLP Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP 20

21 Contact Information Krista Carothers Senior Research Editor Jennifer Owens Editorial Director Kristen Willoughby Senior Manager, Editorial & Research Initiatives Michele Siegel Senior Manager, Research Initiatives Kaisa Filppula Primary Research Associate Learn more at workingmother.com/research-institute and Deborah Epstein Henry, Esq. Founder & President, Flex-Time Lawyers 21