Law360 has recognized Sideman & Bancroft as a top law firm for women in its 2019 Glass Ceiling Report, ranking the firm first for female equity partners and second for female attorneys among U.S. law firms with 20-49 lawyers.
With 63.6% female equity partners, Sideman & Bancroft has the second highest percentage of equity partners of all the firms on the “Ceiling Smasher” list nationwide, regardless of size, and has nearly three times the national average of 21.5% female equity partners cited in this year’s Glass Ceiling Report.
“The firm isn’t just about the numbers. We foster a culture of inclusion combined with an expectation that our attorneys provide sophisticated and high quality legal services. This results in high job satisfaction for our attorneys as well as happy clients.” says Kelly McCarthy, a co-Chair of the firm’s Brand Integrity and Innovation Group who started at Sideman & Bancroft as an associate and now sits on the firm’s executive committee. Lyndsey Heaton, Chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee adds, “Sideman believes strongly that we will serve our clients and our firm the best by recruiting, retaining and promoting not just women, but individuals from all backgrounds and that diverse and inclusive teams are an incredible asset in the creation of innovative solutions to the issues our clients face.”
To determine the ranking for the Glass Ceiling Report, Law360 surveyed 300 firms on the total number of female attorneys, female non-partners, female partners, and female equity partners. The surveyed firms were first grouped by headcount, then any firm reporting below-average female representation in any of the four categories was excluded. The remaining 70 firms were then ranked based on their percentage of women attorneys, both for partners and non-partners.
While Law360’s report showed that overall in the industry, “little progress has been made in the upper echelons of the legal profession to provide equal opportunities for women” and that despite the fact that, nationwide “less than one in four female partners at a firm is an equity partner”, Sideman and Bancroft is among those firms who are head and shoulders above the industry standard.
Sideman & Bancroft is committed to building a culture of inclusion regardless of gender, race, ethnic background, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability status. The firm is certified as a woman-owned business by the Suppliers Clearinghouse and is an active member of the National Association of Minority and Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF).
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