WilmerHale has been recognized for a second year in a row as one of the 2008 Working Mother & Flex Time Lawyers’ Best Law Firms for Women. The Working Mother report examines the challenges facing female lawyers and recognizes firms that have instituted family-friendly benefits and programs that help women succeed at the firm, while The Boston Globe's August 24th Sunday edition offers a more personal look into the story of two firm lawyers who have taken full advantage of the firm's flexible parental leave program. View the article.

WilmerHale is honored for developing innovative programs and policies that seek to help women achieve balance in their personal and professional lives and thrive as practitioners. The firm’s parental-leave policy for lawyers is among the best in the profession, allowing 18 weeks child-care leave at full pay and benefits for both fathers and mothers who are the primary caregiver of a newborn or newly adopted child during the leave. New parents who are primary caregivers may also take up to 34 weeks of additional unpaid leave, during which their benefits continue. After parents return to work, the firm provides continuing support that includes emergency child-care; lactation rooms; and flexible schedules such as of part-time, flex-time, or telecommuting arrangements with full health benefits for those working at least 60%.

WilmerHale women have also assumed many leadership positions: three (all working mothers) are members of the firm’s Management Committee, several lead practice groups including the firm’s two largest, and the two committees responsible for recommending the election of lawyers to counsel and partner are both co-chaired by working mothers.

Methodology: The 2008 Best Law Firms for Women application was developed in a partnership between Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC. Firms with at least 50 lawyers were eligible to apply and the application included detailed questions about the issues that are most important to the retention and promotion of female lawyers. The 50 winning firms were selected based on their responses to an application measuring areas such as workforce profile, family-friendly benefits and policies, flexibility, leadership, compensation, advancement and retention of women.

The complete list of the 2008 Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers Best Law Firms for Women can be found in the August/September issue of Working Mother magazine and at www.workingmother.com and www.flextimelawyers.com.