Overview
(April 16, 2019, Washington, DC) — Steptoe has earned a spot on the 2019 Yale Law Women "Top Ten Firms for Gender Equity" and "Top Ten Firms for Family Friendliness" lists. Steptoe was one of only four firms to be recognized on both lists.
This marks the 14th year for the report, which is designed to monitor trends in gender equity and family friendliness among law firms, raise awareness of disparities within the legal profession, highlight progress being made in the industry, and identify areas for improvement. To create this year's Top Ten lists, Yale Law Women invited all firms listed in the 2019 Vault Law 100 to participate in the survey. The data collected reflects statistics from the 2018 calendar year and only includes US office locations. In addition to examining formal policies available at the law firms, the survey investigated how firms implemented the policies and whether lawyers used them. The full report can be read at Yale Law Women.
To calculate gender equity among the firms, the Yale Law Women report looked at the representation of women within a firm’s structure and leadership, as well as promotions and evidence of commitment to equitable training and mentorship. Steptoe was recognized for having at least 35% of women serve on executive, compensation, and hiring committees.
The report focused on three categories that contribute to family friendliness at a law firm including the structure and expectations surrounding billable hours and compensation, the availability and use of parental and family leave accommodations, and the availability and use of part-time and flexible work schedules.
Steptoe strives to differentiate itself from other law firms by not only delivering the highest-quality legal services to clients, but also by accomplishing that goal with a talented, creative, diverse, and engaged team of professionals. Along with providing formal and informal mentoring for women lawyers, the firm’s Women's Forum sponsors activities to advance, recognize, and connect the firm's women lawyers and professionals.
Earlier this year, Steptoe launched its partnership with Momseze to expand its support for new and expectant parents. Momseze immediately connects parents to nurses, lactation consultants, and baby care experts. Steptoe was also among the first law firms to implement a partnership with Milk Stork, a program designed for working mothers who breastfeed and travel for business.
Several new family care benefits also took effect last year via the Bright Horizons program. They include high quality back-up child and adult/elder care, including access to regular caregivers; access to a free, self-serve and self-pay comprehensive database of nannies, babysitters, pet sitters, dog walkers; and tutoring and test prep services for school age children grades K-12.
Read more on the 2019 Yale Law Women report in Above the Law, Bloomberg Law, and The American Lawyer.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.