SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 22, 2015) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce that it has received “Gold Standard Certification” for the fifth consecutive year from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF). WILEF Certification is presented to those firms in which women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, their highest leadership positions, their governance and compensation committees and their most highly compensated partners.
“We are extremely proud to be awarded this recognition for the fifth consecutive year,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler. “We strongly value the importance of having women leaders at every level and through the efforts of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, we continue to strengthen our programs and identify opportunities for the advancement of women.”
Littler offers a number of initiatives, which include the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), Flex-Time Attorney program, mentorship and a training program designed to develop and retain women in high-level positions by providing them with the tools and resources they need to achieve their goals. Following the 2014 appointment of shareholder Lisa (Lee) Schreter as the chairwoman of the firm’s Board of Directors, the firm appointed Stacey E. James and Natalie A. Pierce as board members this year, bringing the number of female board members to five. Additionally, more than one-half of the firm’s practice groups are co-chaired by female shareholders, and a number of Littler offices are led by a female managing shareholder. This year, the firm also elevated a group of 16 attorneys to shareholder, 10 of whom are female.
“Littler continues to make strides each year in enhancing and creating initiatives to help women advance within the firm and in the profession overall. We are proud to once again be recognized by WILEF for our unwavering commitment to providing motivating and appealing career opportunities for our female attorneys,” said Linda O. Headley and Dionysia L. Johnson-Massie, shareholders and co-chairs of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.
As a result of the firm’s programs and initiatives, Littler continues to be recognized by clients, the media and industry organizations for its progressive diversity programs. WILEF’s Gold Standard Certification is among the latest accolades that Littler has received in recognition of its female-friendly initiatives. This year, the firm was recognized by Vault, which ranked Littler #2 for Diversity for Women and Law360, which ranked Littler #15 among the Top 25 Firms for Female Partners and #26 among the Top 100 Law Firms for Female Attorneys. Board Chairwoman Lee Schreter was named among the National Law Journal’s “Outstanding Women Lawyers.”
About the Women in Law Empowerment Forum
Founded by its National Chair, Betiayan Tursi, with the support of R.R. Donnelly and several successful senior women attorneys, and subsequently, of law firm and corporate sponsors, the Women in Law Empowerment Forum is dedicated to assisting women in law to assume leadership roles within the AmLaw100, Second Hundred and Fortune 1000 legal departments and within their respective communities. WILEF presents cutting-edge programming that provides an educational and networking forum for women in law.
About Littler
Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice, with more than 1,000 attorneys in over 60 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single-source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 70 years. Littler Global is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.