Holland & Hart is honored to be one of 54 top law firms participating in the first-ever nationwide initiative aimed at tackling recruitment, advancement, and retention of experienced women in law firms. Diversity Lab, an organization that creates diversity initiatives to help firms find and keep the best talent, is launching its inaugural “Women in Law Hackathon,” a Shark Tank-style pitch competition designed to generate innovative ideas to close the gender gap in law firms. Partner Chris Groll, current leader of Holland & Hart’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice, is one of two Colorado lawyers joining participants throughout the nation comprised largely of law firm managing partners, practice group chairs, or high-level leaders.
Teams will work together virtually from January to June 2016 to develop initiatives and will present their ideas in-person to a panel of high-profile judges at the Pitch Event at Stanford Law School June 23-24, 2016. The top three winning teams will grant the prize money donated by Bloomberg Law (1st place $10,000, 2nd place $7,500, 3rd place $5,000) to their choice of a non-profit organization that is advancing women in the legal profession and beyond. Each team consists of six partners, two talent/diversity thought leader advisors, and a Stanford law student.
While the number of women in the legal profession and in law firms has steadily risen over the past 20 years, a mere 18% of women are equity partners according to a 2015 report by the National Association of Women in Law. Holland & Hart has been at the forefront of developing policies and programs that support women in becoming partners, pursuing firm leadership roles, and as working mothers. As of January, 2016, 28% of the firm’s partners are women and 34% of the firm’s lawyers are women. “Although we have made great strides in our efforts to retain and advance experienced women, there is always room for improvement,” says Holland & Hart Chair Liz Sharrer. “We look forward to learning from the collective wisdom of the Hackathon participants and hope to implement some of the recommended initiatives.”
To learn more about the event, visit Diversity Lab’s website.