Jackson & Lewis issued the following announcement on June 20.
Jackson Lewis P.C., one of the country’s preeminent workplace law firms, is pleased to announce the firm has been certified as a Gold Standard firm by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for the eighth consecutive year. The WILEF Gold Standard Certification is awarded to firms who have successfully demonstrated that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their highest leadership positions, of their governance and compensation committees, of their most highly compensated partners and that there be meaningful diversity among their women partners.
“As Jackson Lewis continues to expand, we will keep raising the bar on diversity and inclusion initiatives in order to continue making progress,” said Firm Co-Chairs William J. Anthony and Kevin G. Lauri, in a joint statement. “We are proud to say that our training and mentoring programs, in addition to our top-down mentality and commitment to fostering an inclusive culture, have resulted in the fact that more than 75 percent of our women equity partners were promoted through the ranks in the firm.”
To achieve the WILEF Gold Standard Certification, law firms with 300 or more practicing attorneys in the U.S. must meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners. The WILEF Certification emphasizes the leadership roles achieved by equity women partners, rather than the policies or practices of the firm or the overall number or percentage of women in the partnership.
Jackson Lewis has been consistently recognized for its diversity and inclusion initiatives. The firm was recently ranked #2 in Law360's “Best Law Firms for Women” list, based on its percentage of female attorneys both at the non-partner and partner levels. In addition, the firm also recently appointed the firm’s first Director of Diversity and Inclusion, renamed the firm’s law school scholarship program that focuses on providing educational opportunities to students who are traditionally underrepresented in the legal profession, and announced new leaders for its internal attorney resource groups.
“Jackson Lewis has always supported the advancement of women in the firm, and we consider ourselves to be at the forefront of the legal profession in terms of our commitment to fostering the development and career advancement of women in the firm,” said the firm’s Director of Diversity and Inclusion, Jana Simon. “We are extremely proud to be listed amongst the few firms who met all of the six listed criteria to be recognized as a Gold Standard firm. Jackson Lewis takes great pride in doing everything we can to empower women to succeed at the firm throughout all stages of their lives, while ensuring they were able to stay on the partnership track.”
Original source can be found here.