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Women's Initiatives

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Women's Initiatives

Paul Hastings is committed to the mentoring, recruiting, retaining, advancing, and supporting of our women lawyers.

Paul Hastings has been recognized by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and Flex-Time Lawyers as a 2011 Best Law Firm for Women, an honor featured in Working Mother magazine. This distinction follows the firm’s receipt of Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for integrating women in top leadership positions and compensating them well.

The firm maintains high standards in leadership diversity, with women comprising nearly 30% of firm management positions and 40% of our practice chairs globally. We are recognized as a firm of choice for law firm management and leadership, with female lawyers serving as office chairs, practice group leaders, and committee chairs. American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel Magazine recently recognized Paul Hastings as having the highest percentage of women partners among the labor and employment practices at large law firms, and we are proud to have female attorneys serving as the global chairs of both our Employment and Corporate practices.

Networking Events and Programs

We encourage all of our lawyers to participate in events that encourage the advancement of women professionals.

Atlanta Women’s Network holds frequent networking meetings, social events, and programs that bring partners and associates together, such as the “progressive dinner” hosted with senior partners. The network’s inclusive message helps inspire male lawyers to engage in gender initiatives.
Chicago Women's Network formed in late 2010 as the 10th women’s network at Paul Hastings. They plan to develop programs that showcase the numerous female of counsels in the office and hosted a kickoff event featuring representatives from the firm’s Human Resources department discussing gender and family-inclusive benefit policies.
Hong Kong Women’s Network was the firm’s first network to form in Asia. Members are committed to building a robust community of female executives in China through networking, professional development, education and community service. The network has hosted “business beauty” and spa events for female clients at fashionable locations throughout Hong Kong.
London Women’s Network collaborates with other women’s resource groups to build a strong network of women professionals in London. They also have an established pro bono partnership with Women for Women International and co-sponsored fundraisers on the organization’s behalf.
Los Angeles Women’s Network hosts office-wide events and group meetings. In 2010, they partnered with Catalyst to present a panel on “Engaging Men in Gender Initiatives.” Several of the firm’s clients and Managing Partner Greg Nitzkowski served as panelists.
New York Women’s Network hosts office-wide events and activities, including a recurring collaboration with the Young Women’s Leadership Network which brings in girls from local New York schools to participate in a mock-trial program. Members have also enrolled in self-defense training courses and sponsored tables at women’s bar association fundraisers.
Orange County Women’s Network is driven by business and professional development goals. The group focuses their activities on networking and host events that encourage “building a personal business plan”. Members have also developed an ongoing speaker series on successful strategies for business development.
Paris Women’s Network formed in 2009. The network held its first event with a presentation with Madeleine Guidoni, Ombudsman for the AMF (France’s Security and Exchange Commission).
San Francisco Women's Network hosts a speaker series with a focus on women’s issues in the workplace. One guest speaker was Herma Hill Kay, former dean of Boalt Hall at UC Berkeley and author of Women Law School Deans: A Different Breed, Or Just One of the Boys? The network also sponsors regular social events, including wine tastings, opera nights, and group luncheons.
Washington Women’s Network hosts events that focus on the success of women professionals, including a business fashion event at Saks Fifth Avenue, a clothing drive and sponsorship of Dress for Success and the N Street Village Women’s Center, and a professional development seminar for female clients.

Women's Leadership Forum

The Women's Leadership Forum is an ongoing series of business and client relations programs managed and hosted by the firm. Recent programs include:

Epicuriousity: The Forum hosted program at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York for senior executive female clients in the financial services industry. Participants were treated to cooking demonstrations, food and wine tastings, and a networking reception.
The Kang Tongbi Commemorative Symposium: Women Changing China: The firm co-sponsored Barnard College's "Women Changing China" symposium at our Beijing office. This event honored the legacy of Kang Tongbi, the first Chinese woman to attend Barnard, who worked to eliminate the practice of foot-binding in China. The event featured noted panelists Wu Qing, the first Chinese woman to win the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service (Asia's Nobel Prize), and Yang Lan, a media mogul, philanthropist, and popular television anchor.

Strategic Alliances

The firm also sponsors many events and organizations that honor and empower professional women.

The Women's Forum for the Economy and Society (Europe & Asia): The firm has sponsored the Women's Forum for the Economy & Society since 2008. Partners from Paris, London, Los Angeles and Atlanta have attended and served as speakers at the Global Meeting in Deauville, France, where in 2010 the firm hosted a special corner on the role of rise of women corporate board members. In Shanghai, several Paul Hastings partners attended the Women's Forum Asia Global Meeting.
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA): Paul Hastings is an annual sponsor of the Women Lawyers of Los Angeles Litigators Forum including featured speakers and award recipients.
Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC): Paul Hastings is a platinum sponsor of Corporate Counsel Women of Color. The firm participates in a series of CCWC events and programs, including the Annual Career Strategies Conference where partner Barbara Johnson is a featured panelist.
Women's Global Leadership Conference: Paul Hastings participated in and served as a panelist for the 4th Annual Women's Global Leadership Conference which focuses on women in the energy industry.
Women Corporate Directors (WCD): WCD is a rapidly growing international community of women who serve as directors on corporate boards. Paul Hastings is a proud sponsor of WCD and their annual events, including the Fall Institute where partner Tara Giunta was a featured speaker in 2009.
Catalyst: Catalyst is a leading research institution dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in the workplace. Paul Hastings is a member of Catalyst, which allows us access to cutting-edge research and “best practices” in the area of women’s advancement.

* From NAFE, October 2011 ©, 2011 NAFE logo. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Content without express written permission is prohibited.