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

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

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A RY


Application Methodology

• Each firm completed a detailed application covering the following sections:

• Completed applications were collected online from January 13 to April 14, 2012.

• All data for the 2012 survey was collected from the full year of 2011. 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.

Workforce Profile Time Off and Leaves

Child Care Flexibility

Leadership, Compensation and Advancement of Women Development and Retention of Women

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Summary of Findings: Areas of Achievement

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• 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 2011.

• 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 2011.

• 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 2007.


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.

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Women’s Representation Declines at Higher Levels

Equity Partners

Non-Equity Partners

Counsel

Associates

18%

28%

42%

47%

82%

72%

58%

53%

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%).

Source: National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL) 2012 Survey Report.

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Women Men


Partnership Structure’s Impact on Women

Two-Tier Firms

One-Tier Firms

17%

21%

83%

79%

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

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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.

Female Equity Partners Male Equity Partners


Promotion of Newly-Admit-ted Non-Equity Partners

Promotion of Newly-Admit-ted Equity Partners

Promotion of Newly-Admit-ted Equity Partners

40%

26%

29%

60%

74%

71%Promotion of

Newly-Admitted

Equity Partners

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.

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Firms with one tier

Firms with two tiers

Women Men


Representation of Women on Influential Committees

Equity Partner Promotion Committee

Compensation/Finance Committee

Executive/Management Committee

22%

21%

21%

78%

79%

79%

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.

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Women Men


Representation of Women as Firm Leaders: 2007 v. 2012

Ten Best Law Firms (20%) are led by female managing partners, while six (12%) have female chairpersons.

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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.

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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.

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Access to Flexible Work Arrangements Varies

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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.


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) 2012.

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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.

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Promotion Rates for Reduced Hour Lawyers

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

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.


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.

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Child Care Offerings

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Subsidized in-home backup child care has grown in popularity: 66% of Best Law Firms offer it in 2012, up from 62% in 2011.


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

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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.

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Percentage of Best Law Firms that offer Affinity Groups specifically for:


Arent Fox LLPBaker & McKenzie LLPBenesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff LLPBradley Arant Boult Cummings LLPChapman and Cutler LLPCooley LLPCovington & Burling LLPCrowell & Moring LLPDebevoise & Plimpton LLPDorsey & Whitney LLPDuane Morris LLPEpstein Becker & Green, P.C.Faegre Baker DanielsFarella Braun + Martel LLPFinnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLPFredrikson & Byron, P.A.Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLPFulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.Gibbons P.C.Goodwin Procter LLPHanson Bridgett LLPHogan Lovells US LLPHolland & Knight LLPHonigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLPHunton & Williams LLP

Congratulations to the2012 Best Law Firms for Women

Husch Blackwell LLPIce Miller LLPJenner & Block LLPKatten Muchin Rosenman LLPKilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLPKirkland & Ellis LLPLatham & Watkins LLPLeonard, Street and DeinardLittler MendelsonManatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLPMcDermott Will & Emery LLPMcGuireWoods LLPNeal, Gerber & Eisenberg LLPOrrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLPPaul Hastings LLPPerkins Coie LLPPillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLPReed Smith LLPRiddell Williams P.S.Schiff Hardin LLPSeyfarth Shaw LLPSteptoe & Johnson LLPThompson Hine LLPVinson & Elkins LLPWilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP 20


Contact Information

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Learn more at workingmother.com/research-institute and www.flextimelawyers.com

Jennifer Owens Editorial Director

[email protected]

Deborah Epstein Henry, Esq. Founder & President, Flex-Time Lawyers

[email protected]

Kristen WilloughbySenior Manager, Editorial & Research [email protected]

Kaisa FilppulaPrimary Research [email protected]

Krista CarothersSenior Research Editor

[email protected]

Michele SiegelSenior Manager, Research Initiatives

[email protected]

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

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