September 21, 2011

 

MILWAUKEE, WIS. — The national law firm of Quarles & Brady announced that it has been named among the Top 50 Best Law Firms for Women by the National Association for Female Executives (“NAFE”) and Flex-Time Lawyers.

“We believe lawyers can remain committed professionals while working a flexible work schedule,” said Janine Landow-Esser, Diversity Committee Chair at Quarles & Brady. “This honor is a recognition of our commitment to our working mothers. We make every effort to provide an outstanding flexible work environment so that working mothers can be a success within the firm while also honoring their obligations to their families and their communities.”

Quarles & Brady consists of 37 percent female attorneys. Of the leadership roles within the Firm, 33 percent are held by women. This is the second time that Quarles & Brady has been named as a Best Law Firm for Women.   

“Our research team has seen an increase in the number of female partners working at the Best Law Firms within the past five years, with women as 19 percent of equity partners, compared to the national average of 15 percent,” said Dr. Betty Spence, President, NAFE. “We applaud how the 2011 Best Law Firms for Women are making it possible for women to succeed by offering programs and policies that support their needs.”

The 2011 NAFE & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women are continuing to redefine the standards of success, with written reduced hour policies at 100 percent of the winning firms and 78 percent who are offering full-time telecommuting. Now in its fourth year, the Best Law Firms for Women have increased support for programs that encourage networking, training and mentoring.

“The 2011 Best Law Firms for Women are encouraging the retention and promotion of women, in addition to creating conducive work environments for all lawyers to thrive,” said Deborah Epstein Henry, Founder and President, Flex-Time Lawyers. “By offering leadership and business development opportunities for women, along with generous flexibility, parental leave and childcare programs, these firms are better poised to retain and promote the brightest legal minds, with the goal of reaching parity for women in the profession.”

Quarles & Brady and the 50 Best Law Firms for Women and their work/life and women-friendly policies will be featured in the fall 2011 issue of NAFE magazine and are profiled at nafe.com, www.workingmother.com and www.flextimelawyers.com. Winning firms will be honored in New York on September 21. NAFE is a division of Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation.

Methodology: The 2011 Best Law Firms for Women application was developed in a partnership between Working Mother Media and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. Firms with at least 50 lawyers were eligible to apply and the application included detailed questions about the issues that are most important to the retention and promotion of female lawyers. Completed applications were collected online from November 12, 2010 to January 21, 2011. All data for the 2011 survey was collected from the full year of 2010. The 50 winning firms were selected based on their responses to an application measuring areas such as workforce profile, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, advancement and retention of women.

About Quarles & Brady LLP
Quarles & Brady LLP is a full-service law firm with 425 attorneys practicing from offices in Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Chicago, Ill.; Naples and Tampa, Fla.; Milwaukee and Madison, Wis.; and Shanghai, China. The Firm offers an array of legal services to corporate and individual clients that range from small entrepreneurial businesses to Fortune 100 companies. Additional information about the Firm may be found at www.quarles.com.

About Working Mother Media
Working Mother magazine reaches 2.2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; WorkingMother.com (www.workingmother.com) gives working mothers @home and @work advice, solutions, and ideas. This year marks the 26th anniversary of Working Mother’s signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, and the ninth year of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women. Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (www.bonnier.com), includes the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE, www.nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (www.diversitybestpractices.com), and the Working Mother Research Institute. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change.

About Bonnier Corporation
Bonnier Corp. (www.bonniercorp.com) is one of the largest consumer-publishing groups in America and is the leading media company serving passionate, highly engaged audiences, through 50 special-interest magazines and related multimedia projects and events. Bonnier Corp. is the U.S. division of the Bonnier Group (www.bonnier.com), a 200-year-old, family-owned media group based in Sweden with business operations in 25 countries.

About Flex-Time Lawyers LLC
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC® is a national consulting firm advising the legal profession on workplace restructure, talent management, work/life balance, and the retention and promotion of lawyers, with a focus on women. It hosts a membership organization with quarterly chapter meetings for legal employers and lawyers, offering networking opportunities, employer advice, support, career guidance, education and information sharing to effect change. Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is a resource to the press and legal community at large and also provides recruiting services. It has been covered extensively in the national and legal press, including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, National Public Radio, National Law Journal, and numerous others. For more information, please visit www.flextimelawyers.com.