As partnership diversity remains at the forefront of debate in the national legal community, several Connecticut law firms have kicked off 2019 by bolstering their female partner ranks.

At Stamford's Finn Dixon & Herling, the commitment to women was underscored in a Jan. 1 announcement that the firm has promoted not only two women, but two women of color to partnership positions. Tamu Lewis, a debt finance and real estate attorney originally from Trinidad and Tobago, and fellow debt financing team member Julia Fish Snowden, whose immediate family hails from Nicaragua, are two of three attorneys who were promoted to start the new year. Corporate attorney Neil Ruben rounded out the class.

“It's especially exciting for me to see the progression of women at the firm for the last two years,” Lewis said. “It means a lot to me to see the growth of women at the firm and see how the team at the firm has been bolstered by having partnership and associate teams that are more diverse. I think that certainly serves the firm better, serves our clients better and serves the Stamford community better as well.”

Snowden said Finn Dixon has taken actions to support women, including approving a maternity leave policy that matches those offered at big law firms and focusing on mentorship programs for young female associates. Founded in 1987 and now 55 attorneys strong, Finn Dixon boasts a debt financing group that has 50 percent female partners, along with half of its force of lawyers being women. “I think that speaks to it being a long time coming. It's the kind of progress that you can't just implement in one day.”

Finn Dixon also has the distinction of having hired former Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly as a partner last June, and being the firm where current state Attorney General William Tong worked as a litigator.

Alexis Gettier (left) and Ruth Moskowitz partners with Day Pitney. (Courtesy photos)

Staying on the I-95 corridor, Connecticut's largest law firm Day Pitney, with five Connecticut offices including Stamford and Hartford, also started off 2019 with the promotion of two female attorneys to partner, in the form of trusts and estates attorneys Alexis S. Gettier and Ruth S. Moskowitz. Bringing experience in complex estate issues in Connecticut and nearby states, both attorneys said a culture of support was a key part of their success that they are paying forward to up-and-coming female associates.

“It's really an honor and an exciting time,” Moskowitz said. “I think it's an affirmation of Day Pitney's approach toward women and the inclusion of women. It's reassuring to be part of an organization that has a tradition of supporting and promoting women.” Moskowitz noted that she works out of the firm's Greenwich office, where six of the seven attorneys on staff are female.

In contrast, Gettier said she works in an office with mostly men, but she said “that hasn't changed the equation.” “I have felt so supported as a woman and as a mother here, and as a working attorney,” she said, noting that Day Pitney's parental leave policy is forward-thinking and attracts queries from attorneys at other firms. “The word on the street is that Day Pitney is ahead of the curve on these things, and other firms are clearly looking to us as an example of what they should be doing for their employees,” she said. “I'm sure that affects the bottom line as well.”

Longtime Day Pitney female partner Namita Tripathi Shaw said newer partners are experiencing a culture that has been years in the making. “I think Day Pitney has been at the forefront” of supporting women, she said. “My daughter is 18 years old. Eighteen years ago, when I asked the firm for a longer than usual maternity leave they said OK, and when I asked the firm for a part-time schedule they said OK. At the same time, they allowed me to get good work, and they respected my schedule. It took longer to make partner but that was OK, because I got to keep the schedule I wanted and I still got to do great work. The reason I stayed at Day Pitney was because of that supportive culture.”

Former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice and DCF Commissioner Joette Katz. (Courtesy photo)

In Hartford, the highest-profile female hire of the year thus far has been the installation of former Connecticut Supreme Court Justice and Department of Children and Families Commissioner Joette Katz as a partner at Shipman & Goodwin. Katz told the Connecticut Law Tribune recently that she would be dividing her time into four key areas, including mediation, government/appellate work, child safety and pro bono cases. The job, she said, is tailor-made to her broad experience. “I was thrilled as our conversations progressed that Shipman really wanted to know what I wanted to do,” she said.

“Joette has had an exemplary career of public service on behalf of the state of Connecticut,” Shipman & Goodwin managing partner Alan Lieberman said. “Her experience in the judicial and executive branches of state government over a lifetime, as well as her commitment to our state, are extraordinary. We are honored that she has chosen this firm as her new professional home.”