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26 Oct

Best Law Firms for Women and Female Equity Partners (2020)

by: Astor Professional Search

Law360 released its seventh annual Glass Ceiling Report, which surveyed 300 law firms on gender diversity and ranked the best law firms for women based on the percentage of female equity partners in the United States. According to the report, women make up 40% of all attorneys and 25% of partners in law firms across the country.

Female lawyer in the courtroom holding her eyeglasses.

Firms with the highest levels of female equity partners tend to focus on building a clear pipeline to equity partnership for women and offer benefits like work schedule flexibility, mentorship programs and greater leadership opportunities in order to retain top-performing attorneys.

What Are The Best Law Firms for Women?

“The firms on this list are finding ways to expand the representation of women in their upper ranks. At many of the largest firms, more than 30% of equity partners are women. At some smaller firms, more than half of equity partners are women,” (as quoted in Law360). Among the 300 law firms surveyed, Jackson Lewis tops the list of the biggest firms with the most female representation this year, with 30.5% female equity partners. Immigration boutique Fragomen stands out among firms with 101 to 600 attorneys, with 51.0% female equity partners, the report notes.

In the biggest category of ‘Big Law’ firms (601+ attorneys), firms with the highest percentage of female equity partners were Jackson Lewis (30.5%), Littler Mendelson (30.4%), Morrison & Foerster (29.5%), Ropes & Gray (29.1%), Ballard Spahr (28.1%), and Jones Day (27.2%).

For medium to large sized firms (101-600 attorneys), the top five best firms for female partners were Fragomen (51.0%), Tyson & Mendes (50.0%), Berry Appleman (42.9%), Verrill Dana (39.6%), and Hanson Bridgett (38.8%).

Among the 300 law firms surveyed, small firms (20-100 attorneys) had the highest percentage of female equity partners, including Reichman Jorgensen (75.0%), Wright Finlay (66.7%), Walsworth (58.3%), Sideman & Bancroft (57.1%), and Wilson Turner (56.3%).

See the full article and rankings on Law360.

Attorney Recruiter Bill Sugarman

Contact Bill Sugarman, a legal recruiter, for more information.

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William Sugarman

William Sugarman is the president and founder of Astor Professional Search. He engages in the successful placement of attorneys with local, regional, and international law firms and corporations. Bill’s extensive legal and business development experience give Astor an edge over other legal recruiters nationwide. At the cornerstone of Bill’s strategic philosophy is providing the highest level of personalized attention to his clients and attorney candidates. This is also a key factor that separates Astor from other legal search firms, and it consistently delivers legal placements year after year.

Years of Experience: More than 20 years

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