Kutak Rock recently was certified as a 2017 Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) Gold Standard firm.

The WILEF Certification is given to law firms where 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. Law firms with 300 or more practicing lawyers in the United States are eligible for consideration for the WILEF Gold Standard Certification. For more information, please visit the Women in Law Empowerment Forum website.

The “best of” benchmark across the industry for promotion of women to partner is 30% (AmLaw) and 33% (WILEF). Kutak Rock far surpasses those marks for this year: 57% of the firm’s new partners are women. Additionally, the benchmark for excellence in percentage of equity partners for women is 20%. Kutak Rock has reached 30%.

WILEF added a new criterion for excellence this year (7% of women equity partners are women of color and 3.5% of women equity partners identify as LGBT) and Kutak Rock far exceeds those numbers.

The firm continues to develop a pipeline to leadership for its women attorneys, including places on governance and compensation committees. Here too, the firm has exceeded WILEF benchmarks.

The firm’s Women’s Initiative hosts quarterly meetings; in the months between the quarterly meetings, women attorneys meet in small groups led by women attorneys who currently serve on the firm’s various committees. The Women’s Initiative hosts a networking meeting during the firm’s general partnership meeting. These all are opportunities for women attorneys to network, mentor and learn, and share upcoming conferences and CLE opportunities. Kutak Rock women attorneys also support state and local efforts to support women in the legal profession. They host programs in their towns and offices and are leaders of women attorney groups all across the U.S.