Thompson Coburn celebrates seven years of meeting WILEF ‘Gold Standard’ for women leaders

For the seventh year in a row, Thompson Coburn has earned a “Gold Standard Certification” from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for incorporating women into the highest levels of Firm leadership.

The honor recognizes the leadership roles achieved by equity women partners in law firms across the country. With eligibility limited to firms with 300 or more attorneys, only 48 firms nationwide achieved “Gold Standard Certification” in 2020.

In 2019, Thompson Coburn was recognized by Women Inc.’s “Top 100 Law Firms for Women" and for having the highest upward movement of the 271 firms that appear on the NLJ Women in Law Scorecard. Additionally, Thompson Coburn has submitted materials for certification this summer through the Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule 3.0 pilot, a national initiative designed to close the gender and diversity gap in the legal profession.

Law firms are eligible for the 2020 WILEF Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate 20% of equity partners or 33% of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months are women and at least three of the following five criteria:

• 15% of the firm and US branch office heads are women
  
  
• 20% of the firm’s primary governance committee are women
  
  
• 20% of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women
  
  
• 15% of the top half of the firm’s equity partners in terms of compensation are women
  
  
• 10% of women equity partners are women of color, or 4% of women equity partners are LGBT