The National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC are pleased to announce the 2012 Best Law Firms for Women initiative. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, which launched the initiative with Flex-Time Lawyers in 2007. The 2012 Best Law Firms for Women will be featured in the December 2012/January 2013 issue of Working Mother magazine, and the winning firms will be honored at a special awards event in late 2012.
The 2012 Best Law Firms for Women application went live on January 13, 2012. In order to receive all announcements about the initiative, law firms will need to register online at
http://www.wmmsurveys.com/LawFirmsReg.html. Registration is free, and there is no obligation to complete the application after registration. Your firm’s registration will remain confidential if you ultimately choose not to participate. For firms that have registered, your designated contact should have received an email with a link to access the application. Registration remains open at this time and firms that register now will receive a link to the live application soon after registering. If your firm has registered for the survey and has not received an application link, please contact Kristen Willoughby, Senior Manager, Editorial & Research Initiatives, NAFE & Working Mother, at 212.219.7491 or
kristen.willoughby@workingmother.com. The deadline for submission of the completed application is April 13, 2012.
We will be holding two informational calls on Wednesday, January 25 and Tuesday, February 7. Both calls will take place from 2 – 3 p.m. Eastern. Once you have registered for the survey, you will receive call-in information for these calls. Note the general content discussed on both calls will be the same. If you choose to participate in one of the calls, there is no need to participate in the other one.
All law firms with a total of 50 or more lawyers in the United States are invited to participate.
Why Apply?
The survey results will be an invaluable tool for your firm not only to know how it compares but, more importantly, to improve its future standing. All applicant firms receive valuable and confidential feedback on their own performance in the form of a scorecard that provides the firms’ ranking in each of the key areas of the application as compared to all applicants. Law firms will also have the opportunity to purchase benchmarking reports that provide a more in-depth analysis of their firm’s results, revealing how to make their firm a better place for women to work and thrive.
Rather than surveying female practicing lawyers, we collect hard data from the law firms themselves. The application includes questions about female representation, women’s initiatives, workplace culture, networking, flexibility, mentoring, compensation, partnership and advancement. Thus, the scoring is determined by female presence, roles, policies, programs and usage rates, as reported by the law firms. There is no risk for law firms to apply; the identity of the applicant law firms, other than those that make the Best Law Firms for Women list, is kept confidential. All data provided in the scorecard to non-winning firms, aside from the information addressed to a specific applicant firm, is aggregate and anonymous. Additionally, the winners who make the list are not ranked but instead, listed alphabetically.
Additionally, winners will be publicized to general counsel from around the country so that they can celebrate firms that are focused on women’s success. Winning firms will also be marketed to law students nationally and the list will be used as a recruiting tool to select prospective employers. The Best Law Firms for Women initiative is free and an important means for winning firms to distinguish themselves.
If you have any questions or comments about the substance of the application, please contact Deborah Epstein Henry, Founder & President, Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, at 610.658.0836 or dehenry@flextimelawyers.com. If you have any questions about the application process, eligibility requirements, or anything else pertaining to this initiative, please contact Kristen Willoughby, Senior Manager, Editorial & Research Initiatives, NAFE & Working Mother, at 212.219.7491 or kristen.willoughby@workingmother.com.
We encourage you to spread the word and forward this invitation to any law firm lawyer you know. Good luck and we hope to have your firm’s participation!
Best,
Debbie & Carol
Deborah Epstein Henry, Esq.
Founder & President
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC
dehenry@flextimelawyers.com
www.flextimelawyers.com
610.658.0836
Carol Evans
President, Working Mother Media
A Division of Bonnier Corporation
carol.evans@workingmother.com
www.workingmother.com
www.wmmsurveys.com
212.219.7476
