Women's Forum 

A culture…a commitment…a way of life…

At Steptoe, we strive to differentiate ourselves not only by delivering the highest-quality legal services to the best clients, but also by accomplishing that goal with a talented, creative, diverse, and engaged team of professionals.  

Steptoe’s women lawyers have been full and active participants in the development of this productive workplace community, and the firm has established a variety of programs to cultivate the unique perspectives of its women attorneys and professionals:

• Professional Development: A number of women partners at Steptoe have held senior positions in the federal government and have served as leaders in the Bar and other associations.  With the full support of the firm, such women continue to dedicate significant time and resources to leading these communities, including national and international groups promoting access to justice for women.
• Flexible Career Paths: Steptoe lawyers come to the firm with a wide range of skills, backgrounds, and personal commitments.  We craft individual career paths that enhance and maximize individual and team strengths, in the long run as well as the short term.
• Mentors: Women lawyers at Steptoe benefit from the experience and advice of other women who hold firm-wide leadership positions and manage key client relationships, as illustrated by our Women's Stories.
• Alumni: Women lawyers also have access to the valuable expertise of Steptoe Alumni through our Alumni program.
• Speeches and Publications: Our women lawyers are noted authorities. They are sought-out speakers on a broad range of topics.  Each year, they publish numerous professional articles and papers, both in their fields of expertise and on topics relevant to women and the law.
• Women’s Forum: The Women's Forum sponsors activities that advance, recognize, and connect our women attorneys.
• Comprehensive Benefits: Steptoe has an unwavering commitment to full benefits, flexible working arrangements, and support services for all lawyers.  We integrate these services and benefits with a series of checks and balances to monitor their effectiveness, enabling firm leaders to evaluate and modify our programs so that continual improvement in our benefits package is the norm, not the exception. 

As Steptoe women know, our commitments drive our actions.  Our women partners have long functioned in the most senior firm management roles: two women partners have served as the Vice Chair of the firm, and women partners have chaired both the firm's Compensation Committee with responsibility for partner compensation, and the firm's Professional Advancement Committee, with responsibility for attorneys' advancement to partner.  Our women lawyers currently serve in the following leadership positions:

• Partners: 25% women
• Chief Diversity Partner: Sandy Chamblee
• Diversity Committee: Sandy Chamblee, partner co-chair, and Erica Gerson, associate co-chair
• Executive Committee: Antonia Ianniello and Lucinda Low
• Compensation Committee: Lucinda Low, Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov, and Gwendolyn Prothro Renigar
• Deputies Committee: Alice Kipel
• Finance Committee: Jane Ryan, vice chair
• Hiring Committee: Meredith Rathbone, co-chair
• International Department and International Trade Group: Susan Esserman, chair
• Professional Advancement Committee:  Michelle Cooke, Antonia Ianniello, Stephanie Quincy, and Jennifer Quinn-Barabanov
• Professional Training Committee: Alice Kipel, co-chair
• Strategic Planning Committee: Antonia Ianniello and Lucinda Low
• Technology Committee: Morgan Hodgson, chair