Shook Named a 2016 Working Mother/Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firm for Women

Shook, Hardy & Bacon was named one of the “50 Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers, marking the fifth time it has made the prestigious list. Working Mother/Flex-Time Lawyers cited Shook’s succession-planning strategies that focus on advancing women and multicultural talent in its profile of the firm.

“For the fifth time in 10 years, Shook has been named among the Best Law Firms for Women,” said Shook Chair John Murphy. “I am especially proud that Working Mother/Flex-Time Lawyers cited our inclusive leadership development, our diversity-focused succession planning, and our support for parents and flexibility practices as differentiators.”

Among Shook’s Diversity and Inclusion areas of focus are gender equity issues. A firmwide strategic plan with Diversity and Inclusion components contributes to the firm’s efforts to increase the number of women rising through its ranks; specific programs include comprehensive leadership development training that incorporates inclusion competencies, and initiatives that help women advance in their careers. Using input from annual qualitative and quantitative evaluations, Shook leadership assesses what creates results and implements changes as needed.

Earlier this year, Shook selected Madeleine McDonough as Chair-Elect. McDonough will become the first woman chair of the firm on January 1, 2017.

Of the firms that responded to the 2016 Working Mother/Flex-Time Lawyers survey, women represent 30 percent of nonequity lawyers, the highest percentage in the past nine years; 20 percent of equity partners at responding firms were women. For the first time this year, the proportion of female equity partner promotions is the same for firms with one-tiered tracks and two-tiered tracks, at 34 percent. 

Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers started its “50 Best Law Firms for Women” initiative in 2007 to celebrate law firms that have proven most successful in retaining and promoting women lawyers. The survey requests information on benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership and compensation of women, among other factors.

Shook has received several recognitions over the past year for its diversity and inclusion achievements, including:

• Vault, “Best Law Firms for Diversity,” including ranking No. 7 for women
• Equality Illinois, “Raising the Bar”
• WILEF, 2016 Gold Standard Certification 
• Law360, “Top 100 Law Firms for Female Attorneys,” “Top 10 BigLaw Firms for Women”
• Coca-Cola, 2015 “Living the Values” Award
• Human Rights Campaign, Corporate Equality Index

About Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers

Working Mother Media (WMM), a division of Bonnier Corporation, publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com. The Working Mother Research Institute, the National Association for Female Executives and Diversity Best Practices are also units within WMM. WMM’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is an international consulting firm founded by Deborah Epstein Henry in the late 1990s, providing advisory, training and speaking services to employers and professionals on work/life balance, retaining and promoting women and the future of the legal profession.