Women are increasingly taking on more leadership roles both in law firms and corporations across the United States and abroad.

White & Case created the Women’s Initiative to ensure that women lawyers continue to have ample opportunities to step into these leadership roles at every stage of their careers.  Since its inception in 2004, the Women’s Initiative has had a positive influence on the professional development of our  women lawyers, the relationships they have cultivated with clients, and the Firm as a whole.

When we formed the Women’s Initiative, we set out to achieve three specific goals:

• Retain and promote women lawyers of all backgrounds,
• Build an inclusive, diverse environment
• Increase flexibility in how work gets done and how careers are developed.

We can proudly point to success in all areas:

• We created the Women’s Network to give women lawyers the opportunity to network and connect with colleagues and clients. The network provides access to role models, peer support, mentoring, issue-identification, information-sharing, learning and business development opportunities.
• An Upward Review Program was instituted across all US offices to enable associates to evaluate the management and leadership performance of partners with whom they regularly work. 
• In addition to revising our parental leave policy, a task force was formed to shape and disseminate guidelines for flexible work arrangements under our new Flex-Work Policy.

To further expand business development, networking, and growth opportunities, White & Case has instituted a variety of programs, such as:

• Annual women conference for partners, senior associates and clients.
• Women’s network lunches.
• Sponsor women attorneys’ attendance at networking and leadership events.
• Publish a quarterly Women Initiative newsletter.