If you are inside counsel, chances are you got your professional start at a law firm. And chances are, if you are a female in-house counsel, you have come face-to-face with the difficulty that exists in aspiring to attain a legal leadership position by embarking on a career trajectory within the confined culture of a law firm with old-fashioned roots.

Today, there are women running the legal affairs of 106 major American corporations, nearly double the number from 2001. While significant progress has been made in the last decade-plus, there is much more work to be done. In the legal industry, there has been a groundswell of support for the InsideCounsel-sponsored initiative known as Women, Influence and Power in Law (WIPL). Last fall, the group held its first conference in Washington, D.C., and since has been gaining momentum from a series of related projects and events that are generating a national following.

One of the women at the forefront of this movement is Megan Belcher, vice president and chief employment counsel for Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods. Belcher recently launched a group called “Drinks Among Friends,” (DAF) a a networking coalition of women aimed at helping other women advance in their careers by “sharing the power” through female in-house counsel giving work to female outside counsel.