Holland & Hart is proud to be included on Law360’s list of “ceiling smashers,” firms advancing gender equality in law firms’ equity partnership. Law360’s Glass Ceiling Report surveyed more than 300 firms on gender diversity and ranked firms based on the percentage of female equity partners in the United States, and then categorized the firms into tiers depending on firm size. With 28% female equity partners compared to a national average of just under 20%, Holland & Hart ranks third in the 300-599 attorneys tier.
The Glass Ceiling report notes that, “for many law firms, the legal industry’s much-discussed efforts to improve gender diversity are yielding little in the way of results. But firms that are making strides toward gender parity despite these industrywide failings — including many of those in Law360’s ranking of top law firms for women — say they’ve been laying the groundwork for years to help women thrive."
Holland & Hart has long been in the vanguard of supporting the success of women attorneys—both within the firm, by providing training, mentoring, policies that support a healthy work-life balance, and leadership opportunities; and outside the firm, by encouraging business development opportunities. The first woman was admitted into Holland & Hart’s equity partnership in 1978 and the first female Managing Partner was appointed in 1998. Today, 40% of our management committee members are women and 38% of practice group leaders are women. Current firm Chair, Liz Sharrer, is the second woman elected by the partnership to lead the firm.
The firm is constantly striving to find new and creative ways to remain a workplace where women can thrive. This year, Holland & Hart joined 30 firms to participate in the Mansfield Rule, a pilot program of the Diversity Lab that requires participating firms to commit that at least 30 percent of candidates for law firm leadership positions must be women or minorities.