Taft has earned its inaugural recognition as one of the 2020 “Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother magazine. Taft was one of only 60 law firms to earn a spot on this prestigious list.

“It is an honor to be selected as one of Working Mother‘s ‘Best Law Firms for Women,’” said Sonya Jindal Tork, co-chair of Taft’s Gender Advancement Committee. “We are proud of the work we’ve done to build and sustain an inclusive workforce, and we will continue our ongoing efforts to ensure that our firm is an inclusive and forward-thinking employer of choice in each of our markets.”

Taft’s one-class partnership structure and Gender Advancement Committee initiatives have resulted in significant increases of women in leadership roles at the firm. The one-class partnership structure—adopted Jan. 1, 2018, to provide significantly enhanced leadership opportunities for women, lawyers of color, and younger attorneys at Taft—has led to greater transparency and more inclusion at the firm, with the percentage of female equity partners at Taft nearly doubling from 2017 to 2019. Today, women partners comprise 45% of Taft’s executive committee and 50% of Taft’s compensation committee.

“Taft greatly values the leadership and listens to the voices of our women attorneys. Like with respect to all of our diversity and inclusion advancement initiatives, the firm understands that promoting the success of our women attorneys benefits the entire firm and our respective communities,” said Tracy Betz, co-chair of Taft’s Gender Advancement Committee.

Taft also offers an array of career programs and initiatives, along with family-centered benefits and policies, to support the retention and advancement of working women and parent attorneys. Taft is a leader in the industry with its 16-week paid parental leave policy (regardless of gender or primary caregiver status), flexible work options, and a strong history of promoting women after one or more parental leaves. In addition, the firm has partnerships with two companies to implement additional family-centered paid benefits: CorporateCARE Solutions, which offers child and adult back-up care service for all attorneys and staff, and MilkStork, a breast milk storage and shipping program.

“Receiving this high honor is a testament to the outstanding work taking place across the firm to proactively support women attorneys in their careers. Taft’s executive committee relies heavily upon ongoing feedback from the Gender Advancement Committee to implement important policy changes, which ultimately strengthen our culture and enhance our reputation as a modern law firm with exceptional client service. Tracy Betz and Sonya Jindal Tork, along with the Women of Taft affinity groups in each of our markets, are vitally important to the overall success of our advancements,” shared Taft Chair and Managing Partner Robert J. Hicks.  

The annual Working Mother “Best Law Firms for Women” list recognizes firms that utilize best practices in finding, retaining, promoting, and developing women lawyers. Firms are measured by attorney demographics at different levels, schedule flexibility, paid time off and parental leaves, and development and retention of women. The full “Best Law Firms for Women” list is available here.