Fox Rothschild LLP has been named among the 2009 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women. This is the second consecutive year that the firm has received this honor.
Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers applaud Fox Rothschild and the other winning law firms for their continued attention to work-life and women’s issues and urge increased use of flex-time, reduced-hour and other family-friendly policies to ensure the future success of the profession.
“Fox Rothschild is thrilled to receive this designation for the second year in a row,” said Mark L. Silow, administrative partner of Fox Rothschild. “We maintain a steadfast commitment to a diverse workforce and to the retention and advancement of women attorneys. We’re honored to again receive recognition for the comprehensive firm-wide Women’s Initiative program we have in place to not only retain but also promote our women attorneys into leadership roles.”
Profiles of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women and their work/life and women-friendly policies are highlighted in the August/September issue of Working Mother and at www.workingmother.com and http://www.flextimelawyers.com/best.asp. Winning firms will be honored at a luncheon at the Pierre Hotel in New York on September 15.
“The recession has created a shift in the legal industry and now is the time to push through mutually beneficial, cost-effective reforms that directly benefit work-life balance and allow working moms to succeed both at home and in the court room,” said Carol Evans, president, Working Mother Media. “We salute the 2009 Best Law Firms for recognizing that making the legal profession work for women is good business for everyone.”
The Best Law Firms for Women are leading the charge for change. For example, these 50 winning firms employ more lawyers who work reduced hours (eight percent versus five percent nationwide). These winning firms also employ more female equity partners who share in their firms’ profits (20 percent versus 16 percent nationwide).
Of the more than 450 attorneys at Fox Rothschild, the firm maintains a high percentage of female associates, special counsel and equity and non-equity partners. Fox Rothschild has also implemented policies and programs to respond to the needs of women attorneys at both the partner and associate level. For example, the firm has a generous maternity leave policy, a formal policy that encourages alternative and reduced work schedules and a formal mentoring program for all junior associates. There is also a Women’s Initiative Program that provides a network of resources for the exchange of ideas, mentoring opportunities and leadership and marketing development.
“To be honored for the second year in a row is especially meaningful to us, particularly in light of the economic climate that has pervaded the legal industry during this past year,” said Jean A. Durling, Chief Talent Officer. “That we have been successful in sustaining our commitment to flexible policies that enable our attorneys to spend time with their families while nurturing their careers is a testament to the strategy that Fox has maintained for years in connection with firm growth and attorney professional development.”
“We are proud of our 2009 Best Law Firms for Women because they understand that when the market improves, the war for talent will return and they will be better positioned to recruit and retain the best and brightest,” said Deborah Epstein Henry, Founder and President, Flex-Time Lawyers. “Big salaries and bonuses will no longer be the pivotal means for firms to draw the best talent, and culture and environment will become more important ways for firms to distinguish themselves.”
Methodology: The 2009 Best Law Firms for Women application was developed in a partnership between Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers. Firms with at least 50 lawyers were eligible to apply and the application included detailed questions about the issues that are most important to the retention and promotion of female lawyers. The 50 winning firms were selected based on their workforce profile, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, advancement and retention of women, among other criteria utilizing 2008 data.
About Fox Rothschild LLP
Fox Rothschild LLP is a full-service law firm built to serve business leaders. Over the past 100 years, we have grown to more than 450 lawyers in 15 offices coast to coast. Our clients come to us because we understand their issues, their priorities and the way they think. We help clients manage risk and make better decisions by offering practical, innovative advice.
About Working Mother Media
Celebrating 30 years, Working Mother magazine reaches two million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers while workingmother.com brings to the Web a broad range of insight and solutions served to working mothers every day. Working Mother’s 24-year signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, is the most important benchmark for work/life practices in corporate America. With offices in New York and Washington, DC, Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corp., includes the National Association for Female Executives, Diversity Best Practices, the WorkLife Congress and the Multicultural Women’s Conference and Town Halls. Working Mother Media’s mission is to champion cultural change.
About Flex-Time Lawyers LLC
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC® is a national consulting firm advising the legal profession on work/life balance, law firm restructure, and the retention and promotion of women. It hosts a membership organization with chapters in New York and Philadelphia, offering networking opportunities, support, career guidance, education and information sharing to effect change. Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is a resource to the press and legal community at large on work/life balance and women's issues and also provides recruiting services. It has been covered extensively in the national and legal press, including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, National Public Radio, National Law Journal and numerous others. For more information, please visit www.flextimelawyers.com.
