August 10, 2009

Working Mother Magazine Names Dorsey One of "Best Law Firms for Women" for Third Consecutive Year

Dorsey & Whitney Among ‘Best Law Firms For Women’ For Third Straight Year

MINNEAPOLIS (August 10, 2009) — Global law firm Dorsey & Whitney has, for the third consecutive year, been selected by Working Mother magazine as one of the nation’s 50 “Best Law Firms For Women.” In its annual report on law firms, the magazine measured firms on a variety of factors, including workforce profile; family friendly benefits and policies; flexibility; leadership, compensation and advancement of women; and development and retention of women.

“Over the past ten years, the percentage of women associates at Dorsey has increased from 33% to nearly 50%, the percentage of female attorneys has increased from 25% to 35% and the percentage of women partners has increased from 13% to 18.6%,” said Dorsey’s Managing Partner, Marianne D. Short, who is one of only a few women leaders of AmLaw 100 law firms. “We have worked diligently on our initiatives to develop, advance and retain women lawyers, and we are honored to be recognized by Working Mother as a firm in which being a mother and having a successful law practice are compatible aspirations.”

Working Mother’s recognition of Dorsey as a Best Law Firm for Women is also based on the number of women lawyers in management and leadership roles. In addition to Short, Dorsey has three female partners on its board of directors and 12 serving as practice group chairs or office heads. Women also co-chair the firm-wide pro bono and diversity initiatives.

Dorsey also offers a number of family-friendly options to its lawyers, including parental leave, flexible work arrangements, childcare subsidies and networking and development opportunities focused toward women associates.

Over half of the 34 newly admitted Dorsey partners in the past two years were women and, of those, a third had flexible working arrangements at one point in their career at the firm, including at the time of promotion to partner.

The complete 2009 Best Law Firms for Women list can be found in the August/September issue of Working Mother magazine and at www.workingmother.com and www.flextimelawyers.com.

Working Mother magazine, the authoritative source for career-committed mothers, and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, a national consulting firm advising attorneys and legal employers on work-life balance and retaining and promoting women, joined forces to select the “Best Law Firms For Women” list. All firms that participated in the national survey received a scorecard indicating how they stand on work/life and women's issues, providing them with a benchmarking tool to improve the status of women in the future.