We’re delighted to announce that The Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) has awarded Watson Farley & Williams its first Gold Standard Certification, in recognition of the firm’s commitment to integrating women into leadership roles.
Law firms with 100 or more practising lawyers in the United Kingdom are eligible for 2019 WILEF UK Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their governance and compensation committees and of their most highly compensated partners, and that there be meaningful diversity among their women equity partners. For 2019 Gold Standard UK Certification, a meaningful percentage means that the firm satisfies at least three of the following five criteria:
- 20% of UK equity partners or, alternatively, 33% of the lawyers becoming equity partners during the past twelve months are women;
- 20% of the firm’s primary governance committee are women;
- 20% of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women;
- 15% of the top half of the firm’s equity partners globally in terms of compensation are women; and
- 7% of women equity partners in the UK are non-white or 3.5% of women equity partners in the UK are LGBT
The award began in 2011 and was initially available only for US firms. 2019 is the first year that UK firms have been eligible to apply for certification.
Liz Buchan, Director of People and Knowledge Management, said: “WFW is particularly proud to receive the 2019 accreditation, as the firm was one of only four law firms in the UK to meet all five of the certification criteria and in fact the first UK firm ever to attain the WILEF UK Gold Standard”.
Lindsey Keeble, Partner & Global Maritime Sector Head, said: “Having been with WFW since joining as a trainee, I have never felt that my gender has been a factor in my advancement in the firm. We have a large number of women in management and board positions and I am proud to be a partner at WFW”.
