Call To Action
Call to Action
In 2004, the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women launched the “Call to Action”— the brainchild of Jane Pigott of R3 Consulting and Lynn Grayson, a partner with Jenner & Block . 50 signatories -- law firms and legal departments -- pledged to make efforts to increase certain benchmarks impacting the retention and advancement of women attorneys from 2004 until 2007. When the original Call to Action concluded, it was clear that the effort had been successful in bringing attention to the benchmarks at issue, with notable increases for all firms during that time frame. Understandably, those involved in the Call to Action wanted to ensure that the focus on these important issues would continue within law firms in the future.
From 2008, and going forward, data was obtained from the forms filed with the National Association for Law Placement (“NALP”) for every law firm with a Chicago office. From these forms, certain benchmarks could be measured:
- Women Partners
- percentage
- numbers
- Improvement from year-over-year
- Women Associates
- percentage
- numbers
- Improvement from year-over-year
- Women “Other Attorneys”
- percentage
- numbers
- Improvement from year-over-year
Now, in 2009, the Alliance for Women and the Coalition have joined together to help disseminate the 2009 Call to Action results, and to work with the originators of the Call to Action to help collect, analyze and publicize the data going forward. We believe that attention to these issues is imperative for continued positive strides for the advancement and retention of women attorneys.
News
Our coalition welcomes members of Chicago firms who would like to advance their women's initiatives. Find out more about How to Join.