Ogletree Deakins Again Named Among Best Law Firms For Female Attorneys by Law360

ATLANTA – May 28, 2019 – Ogletree Deakins is pleased to announce that the firm is named a best law firm for female attorneys by prominent legal publication Law360. Ogletree Deakins ranks second in the 600+ lawyer category in Law360’s 2019 Glass Ceiling Report.

“Female attorneys have multiple paths to success at Ogletree Deakins, and I’m very pleased to see our firm held in such high regard,” said Michelle Wimes, the firm’s chief diversity and professional development officer.

Women are among the most successful lawyers at Ogletree Deakins, serving in leadership positions as members of the firm’s board of directors, office managing shareholders, and practice group chairs. In January 2019, 11 of the 17 (65%) attorneys promoted to shareholder were women and more than half of those elected to equity shareholder were women. The Ogletree Deakins Women’s Initiative (ODWIN) serves as a resource to enhance the firm’s commitment to its women attorneys by creating and fostering an environment of inclusiveness through active involvement in the firm’s business development, recruitment, retention, and educational awareness efforts as they relate to women attorneys at the firm.

Ogletree Deakins also promotes flexibility for its attorneys—both female and male—who are grappling with the dual demands of being productive attorneys and having a meaningful role in their family lives or any other passion that they may have. The firm’s OD Family business resource group was established to support colleagues during times of transition and stress. The group has helped institute firm policies, including an on-ramping policy intended to ease attorneys’ transition back to work after parental leave. Additional business resource groups at Ogletree Deakins include those supporting the firm’s attorneys in the LGBTQ, African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic communities.

To produce its 2019 Glass Ceiling Report, Law360 collected attorney head count data from more than 300 U.S. firms, or vereins with a U.S. component or similar structure, about their demographic makeup as of December 31, 2018. Only U.S.-based attorneys were included in the survey, and firms had to have at least 20 U.S.-based attorneys to participate. Nearly 84 percent of the top 200 firms in the Law360 400 submitted detailed demographic information about their attorney head counts.

For the 2019 report, firms were grouped according to size and ranked using a formula that equally weights the percentage of nonpartners and percentage of total partners who are women. Firms that fell below the average in any of the following categories were deemed ineligible for the ranking: (1) percentage of female attorneys; (2) percentage of female nonpartners; (3) percentage of female partners, both equity and nonequity; and (4) percentage of female equity partners. Finally, remaining firms were ranked using a formula that equally weights the percentage of nonpartners and percentage of total partners who are women.

About Ogletree Deakins
Ogletree Deakins is one of the largest labor and employment law firms representing management in all types of employment-related legal matters. Premier client service, as outlined in the firm’s Client Pledge, is one of the firm’s top priorities and a cornerstone of its core values. U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” has named Ogletree Deakins a “Law Firm of the Year” for eight consecutive years. In 2019, the publication named Ogletree Deakins its “Law Firm of the Year” in the Employment Law – Management category. Ogletree Deakins has more than 850 attorneys located in 53 offices across the United States and in Europe, Canada, and Mexico. The firm represents a diverse range of clients, from small businesses to Fortune 50 companies. www.ogletree.com