At Working Mother's "Best Law Firms for Women" awards luncheon, Katten was honored as one of only three law firms that has earned a place on the magazine's "Best Law Firms for Women" list for 12 consecutive years, every year since the list's inception. Katten is also among the 17 law firms selected to the inaugural Hall of Fame for making the list for at least a decade.
The awards luncheon held September 19 at the Peninsula Chicago celebrated the 60 firms recognized on the annual list that utilize best practices in recruiting, retaining, promoting and developing women lawyers.
Chairman Roger P. Furey served as a panelist at the event, discussing what challenges law firms have had to overcome to achieve sustained progress on diversity and inclusion. Partner Laura Keidan Martin, member of Katten's Board of Directors and Executive Committee and national chair of the firm's Women's Leadership Forum, accepted the award on Katten's behalf.
In naming Katten to the list, Working Mother magazine highlighted Katten's inaugural Women's Partner Summit in November, where attendees discussed solutions to common challenges for women, such as identifying dedicated mentors, establishing processes for discussion of pay and promotions, and receiving greater transparency and feedback from leaders. At that meeting, female partners shared their views on issues they deemed important to their professional development, career paths and continued success at Katten.
The goal of the firm's Women's Partner Summit aligns with that of Katten's Women's Leadership Forum: advancement and retention of female attorneys through mentoring, networking and career development programs.
The 2019 Working Mother "Best Law Firms for Women" application included 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.
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