(June 23, 2022) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, has been named one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” for the 13th time by Seramount. The firm is one of 50 recognized for utilizing best practices in the recruitment, retention, promotion and development of women lawyers. Littler was also recently ranked a top law firm in The National Law Journal’s Women in Law Scorecard.
“It is an honor to once again be recognized by Seramount,” said Erin Webber, Littler’s managing director and president. “The contributions and advancement of women at every level of our firm are critical to our firm’s success. Littler remains deeply committed to providing a supportive culture where everyone can embrace their full potential. Through the many efforts of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) and our various sponsorship and mentoring programs, we aim to empower and encourage one another to discover a career that is meaningful and gratifying, while honoring individual goals and priorities. By doing so, we can continue to be an employer of choice, and further build on our success as the leading employment and labor law firm in the world.”
“Our Best Law Firms for Women continue to improve in many critical areas,” said Subha V. Barry, president of Seramount. “Representation of women managing partners has increased significantly and we’ve seen progress for multicultural women lawyers at every level. Our firms recognize the importance of recruiting and retaining this important talent pool and have developed the family-friendly benefits to prove it. All of these combined are important steps toward parity.”
Littler supports the advancement of attorneys who identify as female and/or nonbinary through various programs and initiatives. Littler’s WLI, co-chaired by Shareholders Margaret Parnell Hogan and Jennifer Youpa, focuses on developing and retaining women leaders. Presently, 40% of attorneys serving in leadership positions within the firm are women, including representation on its Board of Directors and Management Committee. Furthermore, the top two leadership positions at Littler are held by women attorneys – Shareholder Kate Mrkonich Wilson serves as the firm’s board of directors’ chair for the third consecutive year and Shareholder Erin Webber began an eight-year term as Littler’s managing director and president in January 2021.
Additionally, Littler’s award-winning Career Advocacy Program (CAP) has been instrumental in advancing women and diverse attorneys from the associate to shareholder level. The program matches associate Protégés with shareholder Advocates and client Champions who encourage and foster their career growth. Of the firm’s 2022 class of elevated shareholders, almost a quarter participated in CAP and 45% of the class identified as women.
As part of Littler’s efforts to support working parents, the firm also offers numerous benefits to support working parents – including Bright Horizons, a referral resource to help with child care, as well as backup care, academic support and enrichment programs, college admissions guidance, special needs support, and elder care. Additional benefits the firm offers are Guide+Thrive, a program that connects employees with resources to support their overall well-being, which includes employer-paid counseling sessions as well as work/life and convenience services, and Milk Stork, a breast milk delivery service that provides refrigerated, express shipping or easy toting of breast milk home for business-traveling mothers who are nursing.
And, the Parenting at Littler Resource Group (PALs) offers a comprehensive set of programs to address the needs and everyday issues of working parents and caregivers while continuing to foster a positive culture around working families. Resources offered include facilitated discussion groups, a mentoring program pairing new attorney parents with a parent mentor at Littler, and additional child care and education support benefits. In 2021, PALs rolled out various Employee Resource Groups for attorneys who are parents and/or caregivers. The purpose of these groups is to build a network within the firm to share experiences, stories and resources, and to support one another.
In addition to the Seramount recognition, the firm continues to be ranked as a top firm for women by organizations such as Law360, The National Law Journal and Vault. During the past year, Litter also earned Mansfield Certification Plus status from Diversity Lab, received Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, and was recognized in the 2021 Yale Law Women Top Firms Report for its diverse leadership and part-time work options.
About Littler
With more than 1,600 labor and employment attorneys in offices around the world, Littler provides workplace solutions that are local, everywhere. Our diverse global team and proprietary technology foster a culture that celebrates original thinking, delivering groundbreaking innovation that prepares employers for what’s happening today, and what’s likely to happen tomorrow.