Dorsey & Whitney Recognized as Leading Law Firm for Women

MINNEAPOLIS (August 15, 2008) — Global law firm Dorsey & Whitney is the recipient of the 2008 SAGE Best Practices award, given by the Legal Profession Committee of the Minnesota State Bar Association. The SAGE award recognizes the efforts of law firms in the recruiting, hiring and development of women attorneys.

SAGE, which stands for “Self-Audit for Gender Equity,” is an initiative of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Women in the Legal Profession Committee, which surveyed law firms, corporations and government entities to determine “best practices” for the hiring, retention, and promotion of women in the legal profession.

An in-depth analysis of the survey results identified best practices in six key areas: equal access, workday issues, governance, evaluation/promotion, retention, and compensation. In each area, the Committee identified specific steps that employers could take. The SAGE Award winners are those employers who have implemented these practices and achieved measurable successes.

Dorsey adopted the SAGE Best Practices in 2004 and since then has instituted a number of programs and policies to attract, develop and retain women attorneys:

• The Diversity Advisor program, which matches minority, women and GLBT associates with a partner advisor.
• Flexible work arrangements including reduced hours expectations, flexible full time, and telecommuting.
• Statistical measurement of work assignments to ensure that women associates and lawyers of color have equal access to work opportunities.
• Work/life balance educational opportunities including “Zen and the Art of Remote Access” and “Work-life Balance: A Fragile Juggling Act”.
• Comprehensive parental leave policies that allow each attorney to determine the best leave arrangement for himself or herself following the birth or adoption of a child.
• A women’s marketing initiative to give women a clearer path to developing new business.
• Management Committee review of hiring and retention statistics.

Dorsey Diversity Steering Committee Co-Chair Diane Malfeld said: “Adopting these best practices has contributed to improved retention and promotion of women lawyers in the firm. Lawyers who might otherwise have left the firm have stayed and expressed strong satisfaction with their flexible work arrangements and the firm because of our flexibility.”

Among the results Dorsey has seen:

• The number of female attorneys as a percentage of all attorneys, has increased nearly 34% during the last ten years. 
• Over the same period, the number of Dorsey female partners has increased by 41%. 
• Fifty-one percent of associates are women. 
• Of the sixteen new Dorsey partners named in 2008, ten were women.

The SAGE Award further cements Dorsey’s reputation as a great place for women, as it follows recent recognition from Working Mother magazine, which named Dorsey to its annual “Best Law Firms for Women” list.