Husch Blackwell was named one of the “50 Best Law Firms for Women” by Working Mother magazine, the authoritative source for career mothers, and Flex-Time Lawyers, a national consulting firm for attorneys and legal employees. The firm was selected for its family-friendly policies and business development initiatives that are retaining women and advancing them into the leadership pipeline.
The full 2012 “50 Best Law Firms for Women” list is available on workingmother.com and will be featured in the December/January issue of Working Mother magazine. Husch Blackwell is highlighted for allowing attorneys to reduce their work schedules by as much as 40 percent and still remain eligible for benefits. In addition, the firm has many female leaders: St. Louis Partner Chris Miller is Chair of the firm’s litigation division; Virginia Fry is a Springfield Office Managing Partner; Mary Stuart is the Denver Office Managing Partner; Jennifer Ziegenhorn is Memphis Office Managing Partner; and Joan Gleich of St. Louis is Co-Chief Operating Officer and Chief Administrative Officer. In September, a longtime female partner became a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers founded the 50 Best Law Firms initiative for Women in 2007 to celebrate the law firms that are most successful in retaining and promoting women lawyers. The goal is also to give law firms the benchmarking tools to enable them to improve the status of women in their firms in the future.
"At Husch Blackwell, we are not satisfied with the status quo,” said Husch Blackwell Chairman Maurice Watson. “Setting a high standard of diversity and inclusiveness allows us to identify and maximize each unique individual’s full potential, removing barriers to personal achievement and making us a stronger firm, better able to understand our clients’ needs.”
Memphis Office Managing Partner Jennifer Ziegenhorn knows first-hand the support Husch Blackwell offers working mothers. “When I had my son, Walker, in 2009, I was able to take off three months. That was the perfect amount of time. I needed that time to be at home with my new baby and help my daughter, Whitney, adjust to the new addition. Since I had that time to solidify my family, I was better prepared to go back to work. I had great support from my colleagues. Husch Blackwell fosters an environment sympathetic to the need of a work/life balance.”
Husch Blackwell promotes diversity in the workplace by striving to recruit, develop, retain and promote talented attorneys and staff with diverse backgrounds and experiences. The firm believes that an inclusive environment enhances the commitment to serve clients, the legal profession and the community by building a workforce of people with varied backgrounds where individual differences are appreciated. In addition to being named to the “50 Best” list, Husch Blackwell consistently receives high ratings in the annual Corporate Equality Index, a Human Rights Campaign survey evaluating LGBT-related workplace policies and practices. The firm also received a 2011 Corporate Partner Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners.
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC is an international consulting firm that provides advisory, training and speaking services to employers and professionals on work life balance, retaining and promoting women and new models of legal practice. It offers speaking services at law firms, in-house legal departments, professional service firms, corporations, non-profits, bar associations, law schools, national conferences, events and retreats. For more information, please visit http://www.flextimelawyers.com.
Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (bonnier.com), publishes Working Mother magazine, its companion website, workingmother.com and the Working Mother Research Institute. The National Association for Female Executives (nafe.com) and Diversity Best Practices (diversitybestpractices.com) are also affiliated programs. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. Working Mother magazine reaches more than 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers. For more information, please visit www.workingmother.com.