Baker Donelson was named today by Working Mother to its 12th annual "Best Law Firms for Women" list. This is the third consecutive year the Firm has been included in this prominent list, which recognizes firms that utilize best practices in recruiting, retaining, promoting and developing women lawyers.
"We are extremely proud that we have nurtured a culture where women thrive. When every motivated woman can succeed, our clients benefit from diverse service teams and resulting excellent service, which is our number one goal," said Christy Tosh Crider, chair of Baker Donelson's Women's Initiative and chair of the Firm's Health Care Litigation Group.
The 2019 Working Mother "Best Law Firms for Women" list highlights law firms that averaged 37 percent women among new equity partners, compared with only 27 percent five years ago. The percentage of women lawyers in the ranks of the Best Law Firms' most highly compensated partners also jumped from 11 percent to 15 percent in five years. These firms additionally offer more extended parental leave benefits and encourage more lawyers to work remotely and use flexible hours.
Through its Women's Initiative, Baker Donelson has implemented numerous key initiatives designed to create an environment where female attorneys thrive, including an industry-leading parental leave policy, a firm-wide mentoring program for women, a program that awards business development grants to women attorneys, and a training program designed to help women attorneys achieve equity shareholder status.
"To support the women in our Firm, we've developed a number of innovative programs and policies, including our gender-neutral parental leave policy and our Women to Equity training, mentoring, and accountability program," said Ms. Crider. "These efforts have had a tangible impact in areas such as the representation of women in leadership across the Firm. Being included once again among Working Mother's 'Best Law Firms for Women' is a testament to the determination that our Women's Initiative members continue to bring to ensuring the advancement and success of women in our profession."
Baker Donelson's culture as an exceptional workplace for women has earned the Firm multiple recognitions, including being ranked on FORTUNE's list of the "100 Best Workplaces for Women®" and being recognized nationally in diversity for women in Vault, Inc.'s "Best Law Firms for Diversity." The Firm was recognized by the Chambers Women in Law Awards: USA 2018 as a finalist in the category of Outstanding Firm in Advancing Gender Diversity and Inclusion. Baker Donelson also has been certified by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) as a Gold Standard Firm for five consecutive years.
"It's heartening to see the progress women lawyers are making at firms committed to fully utilizing these attorneys' abilities," said Meredith Bodgas, editor-in-chief of Working Mother. "The war for talent is increasing incentives for law firms to invest in retaining women lawyers, which is why we're seeing more women's initiatives and parental-support groups. By highlighting what our top firms are doing, we hope others in the legal community will follow."
About the Methodology
The 2019 Working Mother Best Law Firms for Women application, administered by the Working Mother Research Institute, includes more than 300 questions about attorney demographics at different levels, schedule flexibility, paid time off and parental leaves, and development and retention of women. For the third year, Working Mother collaborated with the ABA Journal as a knowledge partner.
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corporation, publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com. The Working Mother Research Institute, the National Association for Female Executives, Diversity Best Practices, and Culture@Work are also units within WMM. WMM's mission is to serve as a champion of culture change, and Working Mother magazine is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers.