Lindquist & Vennum is pleased to announce that it has been awarded 2012 WILEF Gold Standard Certification. WILEF, or Women in Law Empowerment Forum, is a national educational venue for women in law firms and corporate law departments. The organization, in its sixth year, established the Gold Standard Certification in 2011 in an effort to recognize law firms with 100 or more practicing attorneys who successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of leadership positions.
About the WILEF Certification
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 with 100 or more practicing lawyers in the United States are eligible for the 2012 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 2012 WILEF Certification, a meaningful percentage means that the number of women equity partners satisfies three or more of the following criteria:
- Women account for at least 20% of equity partners.
- 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.
- Woman 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.
See a complete list of 2012 WILEF Gold Standard Certified law firms: http://wilef.com/cert2.html