Haynes and Boone, LLP has received the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) Gold Standard Certification for the seventh year.
The certification recognizes law firms that successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of the firm’s equity partners, highest leadership positions, governance and compensation committees, and of their most highly compensated partners.
Haynes and Boone began hiring women soon after it was founded, becoming one of the first Texas corporate law firms to do so.
"Haynes and Boone's commitment to the advancement of women, from the firm's position as a frontrunner in hiring women lawyers to our current priority to advance women in the partnership, is a part of our overall strategic plan to foster an inclusive and respectful work environment," said Haynes and Boone Partner Kit Addleman, chair of the firm’s Women Attorney Initiatives Committee.
To receive the Gold Standard Certification, firms must meet the following objective standards:
- 20 percent of equity partners or, alternatively, 33 percent or more of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months are women
and at least three of the following five criteria:
- 15 percent of firm and U.S. branch office heads are women
- 20 percent of the firm’s governance committee are women
- 20 percent of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women
- 15 percent of the top half of the firm’s equity partners in terms of compensation are women
- 7 percent of women equity partners are women of color or 3.5 percent of women equity partners are LGBT
The Gold Standard Certification is the only program of its kind directed toward certifying, publicly recognizing and broadly publicizing eligible law firms that have integrated women into the highest leadership positions in the firm.
WILEF is dedicated to assisting women in law to assume leadership roles within the National Law Journal 350 law firms, in Fortune 1000 legal departments and in their respective communities. WILEF Certification emphasizes the leadership roles achieved by women, rather than the policies or practices of the firm or the overall number or percentage of women in the partnership. Accordingly, the information sought from an applicant for WILEF Certification focuses on the extent to which the firm has successfully promoted women to equity partnership, integrated women into its governance structure, and recognized the contributions of women through compensation.