Bass, Berry & Sims is honored to be named one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” in the 13th annual list released by Working Mother on September 8. The annual list recognizes firms that utilize best practices in finding, retaining, promoting and developing women lawyers. Bass, Berry & Sims was among 60 firms that earned spots on this year’s list.
“Law firms on this year’s list were better prepared to respond to the effects of the pandemic because of their continued support of flextime and remote work for working parents and caregivers,” said Subha V. Barry, president of Working Mother Media. “We are proud to recognize their resilience and steadfast commitment to supporting gender equality.”
“As of one of the leaders of our firm’s Women’s Initiative, I along with my co-leaders are firmly committed to the development and advancement of our women attorneys to partner. By encouraging an open conversation about what it takes to succeed and by creating opportunities for professional growth for our women attorneys, we are invested in the advancement of our women attorneys. We also realize that the path to success takes many turns and that success looks different to each individual. Part of our commitment to advancement is to be flexible and creative in helping our women attorneys achieve their success on their terms,” said Mary Beth Fortugno, Women’s Initiative Co-Chair and healthcare attorney at Bass, Berry & Sims.
The full list, available here, highlights law firms that averaged 23% women among equity partners, compared with only 20% five years ago. Multicultural women make up 14% of equity partners (up from 11% five years ago).
A few key parental-leave, work-life and career-advancement initiatives taking place at firms featured on the list:
- All firms on the list offer formal mentoring, and 50% of mentees are women.
- Two-third of the firms on the list have formal sponsorship, with 62% of participants female.
- The number of women lawyers promoted to equity partner has increased by almost 25% in the past five years.
- Pre-COVID-19, all these firms offered reduced hours and remote work for lawyers; 39% of female lawyers used remote work in 2019.
- 36% of the firms offer gender-neutral parental leave, along with extra leave for women who give birth in 2020. Firms offering gender-neutral parental leave is up from 24% last year.
About the Methodology
The 2020 Working Mother Best Law Firms for Women application, administered by the Working Mother Research Institute, includes more than 300 questions about attorney demographics at different levels, schedule flexibility, paid time off and parental leaves, and development and retention of women.
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corp., publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com. The Working Mother Research Institute, the National Association for Female Executives, Diversity Best Practices and Culture@Work are also units within WMM. WMM’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change, and Working Mother magazine is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. Follow Working Mother on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.