CHICAGO – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP is pleased to announce that for the third consecutive year, it has been recognized as a Best Law Firm for Women by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. The firms honored are applauded for their continued attention to work-life and women’s issues and for their increased use of flex-time, reduced-hour and other family-friendly policies to ensure the future success of the profession. In addition to being selected as one of the 50 Best Law Firms for Women every year since the list’s inception, Katten was ranked in 2007 and 2008 as one of the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, one of only a handful of law firms in the nation to earn that distinction.
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 www.flextimelawyers.com. 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 in the legal profession. The 50 recognized firms employ more lawyers who work reduced hours than those law firms not on the list (eight percent versus five percent nationwide). The winning firms also employ more female equity partners who share in their firms’ profits (20 percent versus 16 percent nationwide).
Katten is honored by Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers for creating a work environment that is hospitable to and encouraging of the advancement of women. With innovative programs and policies that help female attorneys achieve balance in their personal and professional lives and thrive as practitioners, Katten is ensuring that women are the future of private law practice.
Katten’s Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF) was established to further the firm’s commitment to the development, retention and advancement of women and to provide a forum for its women attorneys to discuss issues and share information. The WLF has been instrumental in organizing firmwide training in areas such as business development and networking, and in forming mentoring groups to improve communication among women attorneys within the firm. The WLF hosts regular internal events and roundtable sessions to discuss specific issues that impact women in the legal workplace today, including leveraging a professional presence, balancing work and life, achieving financial wellness, and unleashing the power of personality for more success. Outside of the firm, the WLF has joined with several organizations that support and value the advancement of women to sponsor key events.
“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 Working Mother Media
Celebrating 30 years, Working Mother magazine reaches 2 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, D.C., 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.
