Firm Among Only 19 Nationwide So Recognized 5 Years Running: Only 44 U.S. Law Firms Met WILEF’s Exacting Standards in 2015
The Women in Law Empowerment Forum has awarded McCarter & English its Gold Standard Certification for the fifth consecutive year. WILEF’s Gold Standard program certifies law firms that promote women into positions of top leadership and compensate and empower women within the legal profession.
Nationwide, McCarter was one of only 19 firms to receive the certification for five consecutive years.
“McCarter’s consistent success in meeting – and exceeding – the criteria set by WILEF for Gold Standard certification testifies to the firm’s commitment to securing opportunity for women and empowering them through leadership at the firm’s highest levels,” said Simone Wilson-Brito, co-chair of the firm’s Women’s Initiative Steering Committee and a member of its Diversity Committee.
“McCarter has a long history of promoting female partners and of women in leadership at the firm. The firm’s first female attorney was hired in 1953, and we elevated the first woman to partner in 1980,” Wilson-Brito said. “That pattern continued when in 2002 we became one of the first major law firms to appoint a woman as managing partner.”
Law firms with 300 or more practicing attorneys in the United States are eligible for WILEF Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of equity partners, participate in firm governance and compensation committees, and are among the firm’s most highly compensated partners.
To be considered for Gold Standard Certification, a firm must exceed four or more of WILEF’s threshold measures of participation in which women account for:
* 20 percent or more of equity partners or at least 33 percent of the attorneys elevated to equity partner during the previous 12 months;
* 10 percent or more of firm chairs, chief executive officers, and/or office managing partners;
* 20 percent or more of the firm’s primary governance committee;
* 20 percent or more of the firm’s compensation committee;
* 25 percent or more of practice group leaders and/or department heads; and
* 10 percent or more of the top half of the most highly compensated partners.