The YW Mentors & Allies Awards are presented to individuals or companies that demonstrate excellence and outstanding service to others; champion and advocate for women in the community; and demonstrate significant leadership through contributions of time and energy to encourage, coach, and mentor women in the workplace or community. Winners will be honored during a luncheon on May 11, 2015, in Dallas.
Jackson Walker is the leading law firm in Texas in promoting women attorneys to partner. According to The Texas Lawbook, between 2012 and 2014, the firm promoted nearly 50 percent more women to partnership than any other Texas law firm. Nearly half of the firm’s associates are women, and half of the attorneys hired by the firm in 2014 were women or minorities.
The firm was named among the 100 Best Law Firms for Female Attorneys by Law360, and it has also been named an “Outstanding Firm for Women” by the Travis County Women Lawyers Association and the Travis County Women Lawyers Foundation. The firm was recently spotlighted in a Dallas Morning News article lauding Jackson Walker’s commitment to women in the workplace. As a result of the Jackson Walker Women (jw2) initiative and firmwide commitment to developing women leaders, “No law firm in Texas has a better record in recent years of promoting women to partner than Jackson Walker,” the article stated.
The firm’s jw2 initiative is dedicated to the attraction, retention, and promotion of women professionals. Through its programs, jw2 creates opportunities for women attorneys to build strong networks to sustain a successful and satisfying legal career. At the same time, jw2 supports women in their efforts to make an impact in the community.
Initiatives spearheaded by jw2 include the Alternative Work Schedule program, which allows attorneys to balance personal and family responsibilities with the needs of the firm, while at the same time maintaining the opportunity for professional growth, experience, and career advancement. Jackson Walker also offers an innovative maternity leave mentoring program, which supports an expectant mother throughout her pregnancy and continuing through her return to the firm following maternity leave.
Women practice in all areas of Jackson Walker, serving as lead counsel in litigation, transactional, and regulatory matters. Throughout the firm’s offices, women attorneys play leadership roles at all levels of firm management, including serving on the management, compensation, and other committees, and as practice group leaders.
The firm also encourages women attorneys to pursue involvement in local community activities, while also acting as role models for developing lawyers. Many of its female lawyers are active – including taking on leadership roles – in organizations devoted to the advancement of women, minorities, LGBT individuals and persons with disabilities.
Jackson Walker believes that with all that has been accomplished so far, there is still more to do. The firm is committed to becoming an even more diverse and inclusive law firm while remaining active in the community and continuing to serve clients throughout the U.S. and worldwide.