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Some Chicago firms meet goal of increasing number of women in partnership, leadership ranks
November 5, 2008
CHICAGO — One quarter of Chicago law firms that participated in a Chicago Bar Association's Alliance for Women campaign to increase women partners in Chicago law offices achieved the goal of increasing female partner ranks by three percentage points between 2004 and 2007, the alliance reported.
The Chicago offices of Bryan Cave; Seyfarth Shaw; Schiller DuCanto & Fleck; Foley & Lardner; Chapman and Cutler; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; Hinshaw & Culbertson; Ungaretti & Harris; McDermott Will & Emery; Meckler Bulger Tilson Marick & Pearson; Katten Muchin Rosenman; and Perkins & Coie were the firms that met the goal, according to data provided to the alliance or the National Association for Law Placement (NALP). There were 44 firms that participated in the campaign.
"Overall, we were pleased — it's hard to look at any one goal and view it as a pass or fail," said Lynn Grayson, a partner at Jenner & Block in Chicago, who was one of the leaders of the so-called Call to Action. "Every firm made progress in one or more goals."
At the beginning of the alliance effort in January 2004, the NALP average for the percent of women partners in Chicago offices was 18.12%, and at the end of the campaign in December 2007 it was 19.31%, the alliance said in its final report issued last week.
The number of firms that have women on most of their "power committees," the committees that lead the firms, in the same percentage as they are represented in the partnership doubled, the alliance said. A third of the firms increased the number of committees with such proportional representation. About half of the participating firms increased the number of women as practice group leaders with Foley, DLA Piper and Locke, Lord Bissell & Liddell showing the biggest rise, the alliance said.
The effort also set goals for providing fair flexible work hour polices and closing disparities between men and women with respect to retention, promotion and recruitment.
Grayson said that she hopes the tracking of women's progress at Chicago law firms will now continue under the auspices of a separate not-for-profit organization called the Chicago Coalition of Women's Initiatives in Law Firms, which may be able to provide steadier resources and oversight than the volunteer alliance effort.
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