New York – September 11, 2008 (LAWFUEL) – Debevoise & Plimpton LLP was selected as a Top Ten Family Friendly Firm by Yale Law Women, Yale Law School’s student organization devoted to promoting the interests of women in law school and the legal profession. The firm was one of only two New York firms chosen for the honor.
Yale Law Women surveyed firms from the 2007 Vault Top 100 Law Firms list. Categories of questions included access to and use of maternity/paternity leave; emergency and on-site child care; part-time and flex-time work schedules; health and other benefits for domestic partners; ratios of women partners and associates; and billable hours. Firm responses were weighted based on a 2007 survey of Yale Law School alumni who were asked about the importance of each category of family friendly policies.
Since 1967, Debevoise & Plimpton has continued to develop progressive programs that support lawyers in balancing careers with families. Currently, 51% of the firm’s associates are women. Women lawyers have played a critical role in the leadership of the firm including Mary Jo White as Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department; Mary Beth Hogan on the firm’s Management Committee, head of the Employment Litigation Group and Co-Chair of the Career Development Group; Sarah A.W. Fitts as Co-Chair of the Energy & Natural Resources Group; Jennifer Burleigh as Chair of the Hiring Committee; Li Li as Managing Partner of the Shanghai office; and Franci J. Blassberg and Margaret Andrews Davenport as Co-Chairs of the firm’s Private Equity Group.
“We are pleased to be acknowledged by Yale Law Women with this honor,” said Margaret Andrews Davenport, who is also one of the partners overseeing Debevoise’s part-time program. “Debevoise has a long tradition of implementing policies that allow talented women lawyers to balance careers with family. It is a sign of great progress that a top institution such as Yale Law School is devoting efforts to a survey like this, allowing women lawyers and law students to assess the policies of prospective employers.”
Debevoise was recently named a 2008 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firm for Women and listed as one of the Top 100 Law Firms for Women by Multicultural Law magazine. In addition, Barbara Paul Robinson, Debevoise’s first woman partner, was selected as a 2008 Lifetime Achiever by American Lawyer magazine, the only woman to receive the honor this year, and Mary Jo White, Debevoise’s second woman partner, was recently honored by the American Bar Association with its Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award. Also, partner Lorna Schofield was recently named one of The National Law Journal’s 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers. Schofield will become the first Asian-American woman to chair the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation in 2009-2010.
Yale Law Women’s mission is to promote the interests of women within the law school and beyond. To this end it cultivates debate and discussion of issues pertaining to women and gender broadly defined; promotes speech and action by its members on issues of import to women; devotes resources to student support and professional development; recognizes and fosters outstanding achievement; and advocates in service of women’s interests in society.
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a leading international law firm, representing a wide range of clients around the world. Founded in 1931, the firm has offices in New York, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, Frankfurt, Moscow, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The firm now has approximately 700 lawyers, including more than 150 lawyers in Europe.
