Goodwin Procter is pleased to announce it has been named to the Women in Law Empowerment Forum’s (WILEF) Gold Standard Certification list for 2015. This is Goodwin’s fourth year meeting the certification requirements. To view the firms recognized on this year’s list, click here.
WILEF Certification emphasizes the leadership roles achieved by equity women partners, rather than the policies or practices of the firm or the overall number or percentage of women in the partnership. Law firms are eligible for the 2015 WILEF Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their highest leadership positions, of their governance and compensation committees, and of their most highly compensated partners. For 2015 WILEF Certification, a meaningful percentage means that the number of women equity partners satisfies four or more of the following criteria:
- Women account for at least 20% of equity partners or alternatively, 33% or more of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months.
- Women represent at least 10% of firm chairs and office managing partners.
- Women make up at least 20% of the firm's primary governance committee.
- Women represent 20% or more of the firm's compensation committee.
- Women make up at least 25% of practice group leaders or department heads.
- Women represent at least 10% of the top half of the most highly compensated partners.
WILEF was founded by Peggy Cohen and Betiayn Tursi to provide educational and networking opportunities to women in law firms and corporate law departments. In May 2007, WILEF East held its first program in New York City which was attended by over 100 women. In 2009, WILEF's Global Chair and Co-Founder, Betiayn Tursi, took WILEF to a national platform with the creation of WILEF West. In 2010, WILEF DC was launched and, in 2011, WILEF Chicago debuted. In October of 2014, WILEF Southwest (Houston/Dallas) and WILEF Boston were launched and, in 2015, WILEF went global with the creation of WILEF London and the expansion to Southern California as a separate market. In 2016, WILEF will celebrate its Tenth Anniversary with special events around the country and London.