Five Pa. Names Among Top Law Firms for Women
Working Mother highlighted special programs to help retain and recruit women at Ballard Spahr, Blank Rome, Dechert, Drinker Biddle & Reath and Reed Smith.
July 17, 2019 at 04:03 PM
3 minute read
Five Pennsylvania firms made Working Mother's list. Photo: Shuttestock
Where should women lawyers look for opportunities to grow in the Pennsylvania legal market? Working Mother has narrowed the field with its annual collection of the Best Law Firms for Women, which includes five Pennsylvania-born law firms.
Of the 13 Am Law 200 firms founded in Pennsylvania, five were included in Working Mother's list of 60. It collaborated with the ABA Journal to collect the data.
Those five firms are: Ballard Spahr, Blank Rome, Dechert, Drinker Biddle & Reath and Reed Smith.
In addition to noting the formal sponsorship programs, succession planning, special benefits and other initiatives at each firm on the list, Working Mother recorded the percentage of lawyers at each firm who are women, and the percentage of partners and firm leaders who are women.
While each of the Pennsylvania firms had at least 30% women lawyers, none was over 40%. Drinker Biddle had the greatest proportion of women lawyers among the five firms, at 39%.
Ballard Spahr had the strongest numbers among Pennsylvania firms when it came to the equity partner tier. The firm has no nonequity partners, and 25% of its partnership is female. It was the only Pennsylvania-based firm to beat the average for female equity partners among all 60 firms on the list, which was 22%.
| Law Firm | Percentage of women lawyers | Percentage of women equity partners |
| Ballard Spahr | 38% | 25% |
| Blank Rome | 30% | 15% |
| Dechert | 35% | 16% |
| Drinker Biddle & Reath | 39% | 22% |
| Reed Smith | 36% | 19% |
Working Mother highlighted certain policies at each firm that are intended to help retain and recruit women lawyers. For instance, Reed Smith implemented a Ramp Up program for lawyers returning to work from leave, which allows for 16 weeks of reduced work-hour expectations without a salary reduction. The magazine noted Ballard Spahr's sponsorship program, Invest, which is aimed at lawyers who have overcome significant obstacles to pursue a legal career. And specialized events for advancement of women were highlighted at Dechert, Blank Rome and Drinker Biddle.
Several other large firms that have Philadelphia offices also made Working Mother's list. They are: Baker & Hostetler, DLA Piper, Gibbons, Hogan Lovells, Jackson Lewis, Littler Mendelson, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, and Shook, Hardy & Bacon.
According to Working Mother, among the 60 firms listed the average firm's lawyer head count was 38% women, and the average proportion of women in the equity partner tier was 22%. Among the nonequity tier it was 30%.
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