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O'Melveny Named One of Working Mother & Flex-Time Lawyers "50 Best Law Firms for Women" for Excellence in Flexibility and Leadership
August 07, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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New York, NY – August 7, 2013 – Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers have named O’Melveny & Myers LLP as one of the 2013 Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers “50 Best Law Firms for Women.” O’Melveny was honored for its excellence in creating flexibility and professional development programs designed to retain women and advance them into the leadership pipeline. The Best Law Firms for Women are featured in the August/September issue of the magazine, as well as on workingmother.com and flextimelawyers.com.
O’Melveny offers many progressive options for working mothers—and all lawyers—to manage their personal and professional lives while working flexibly. CustOMMize, the Firm’s comprehensive approach to flexible work arrangements, includes programs that may be used informally or formally, and separately or in conjunction with one another, for any personal or professional reason that aligns with the Firm’s business goals. Unlike a “one size fits all” approach, CustOMMize allows attorneys to consider several different flexibility options to meet their individual needs. These include: a job share program; an unpaid sabbatical program called “Bridges” that allows lawyers to explore other interests and transition back to the Firm following their sabbatical; remote work, flex-time, and reduced workload arrangements; and the Phase-Back program to help ease transitions back from a leave of absence. Other resources that support the Firm’s culture of flexibility include programs such as: individualized transition coaching for new parents; back-up child and elder care; specially equipped on-site nursing rooms; an Internet Phone purchase program that enables attorneys working remotely to use their O’Melveny office telephone number; Parenting and New Mother Employee Networks in every O’Melveny geographic region; and Bridges Mentors for attorneys participating in the sabbatical program.
“From a short-term remote work arrangement to a two-year sabbatical, more than 12 percent of O’Melveny lawyers have incorporated CustOMMize, our comprehensive flexibility program, into their lives,” said Rochelle Karr, O’Melveny’s Director of Attorney Professional Development and Alumni Relations. “Our associates and counsel appreciate that they remain eligible for promotion to partnership while on a reduced workload and the absence of a stigma attached to our flexibility programs. We have associates, counsel and partners—including leaders at the office, practice group, and executive levels—taking advantage of our flexibility options. At O’Melveny, embracing flexibility is not just a policy on paper, it is an integral part of our business strategy and is truly ingrained in our firm’s culture.”
O’Melveny counsel Amy Siegel recently utilized the Firm’s transition coaching for new parents. “The program helped me focus on developing personal goals and specific action plans to help make the transition into my new role as a working mom less daunting,” she said.
In addition to praising the winning firms for offering exceptional flexibility and advancement policies that support the retention growth of female talent, Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers also highlighted their contributions to issues crucial to women worldwide through their pro bono programs. O’Melveny lawyers perform a wide range of pro bono work touching issues that impact women, such as domestic violence, denial of benefits, immigration, and assistance for low-income entrepreneurs. Jerri Shick, O’Melveny’s New York-based pro bono counsel, spoke to the magazine about how a strong pro bono program can help firms recruit and retain a diverse group of lawyers.
“Recruiting helps you get better lawyers, do better work and get better business,” Shick said. “And if you care about morale and your attorneys being happy, you will think about these kinds of programs. Pro bono makes people really happy. They love doing it.”
O’Melveny’s Working Mother and Flex-Time Lawyers “50 Best Law Firms for Women” recognition joins accolades earned earlier this year from WorldatWork’s Alliance for Work-Life Progress, which awarded O’Melveny its Work-Life Seal of Distinction; Yale Law Women, which recognized the Firm for “Superior Performance in Overall Support of Part-Time/Flex-Time Use”; and Euromoney Legal Media Group, which awarded O’Melveny “Best International Mentoring Program” at its second annual Women in Business Law Awards.
About O’Melveny & Myers LLP
With approximately 800 lawyers in 16 offices worldwide, O’Melveny & Myers LLP helps industry leaders across a broad array of sectors manage the complex challenges of succeeding in the global economy. We are a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship. Our commitment to these values is reflected in our dedication to improving access to justice through pro bono work and championing initiatives that increase the diversity of the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.omm.com
About Flex-Time Lawyers
Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, is an international consulting firm founded by Deborah Epstein Henry in the late 1990s, providing advisory, training and speaking services to employers and professionals on work life balance, retaining and promoting women and new models of legal practice. Additionally, Flex-Time Lawyers provides recruiting services and hosts a membership organization with quarterly events on timely issues with prominent speakers in New York. The work of Flex-Time Lawyers has garnered extensive visibility from The New York Times, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, The Wall Street Journal, and National Public Radio, among numerous others and the Flex-Time Lawyers network has grown to over 10,000 lawyers nationally. For more information, please visit our website and follow us on https://twitter.com/DebEpsteinHenry and LinkedIn.
About Working Mother Media
Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (bonnier.com), publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com, and the Working Mother Research Institute. The National Association for Female Executives (nafe.com) and Diversity Best Practices (diversitybestpractices.com) are also units within WMM. Working Mother Media’s mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. Working Mother magazine reaches more than 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; Workingmother.com gives working mothers @home and @work advice, solutions and ideas. This year marks the 28th anniversary of the magazine’s signature research initiative, the Working Mother 100 Best Companies, and the 10th year of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest.