Building a Successful Women's Initiative

Law firms across the country continue to struggle with the recruitment, retention and advancement of women. The findings of multiple national surveys consistently show that women make up almost half of all law school graduating classes, yet they account for less than 20% of the partners in most large law firms.

Fortunately, a growing number of firms are committed to making changes in their workplaces ' and in the legal profession as a whole ' when it comes to recruiting, retaining and advancing successful female attorneys. Some of the most impressive results are being achieved by firms with dedicated women's initiatives. Our firm, Cleveland-based Thompson Hine, was a forerunner in this area when we formalized our Spotlight on Women' program in 2005 and we have continued to be the pacesetter in putting the spotlight on women since that time.

Walk the Talk

One of the most important considerations in the decision to establish a women's initiative is the depth of your firm's commitment to the advancement of female attorneys. If the motivation for establishing a women's committee is not rooted in authenticity, the program cannot and will not be successful. Even worse, the initiative may become a visible and embarrassing failure.

Ultimately, firms show their commitment to the careers of their female attorneys through a history of promoting and advancing women. Formalizing a women's initiative is a great step toward that commitment, but it will lack legitimacy until the firm has a history of placing women in significant, influential positions. If your firm has less than stellar statistics regarding women in leadership roles, it may be wise to spend two years (or more) to improve your track record in this area prior to publically launching a formal women's initiative. If you have a history to support your message, your initiative will be more credible and ultimately better received, both internally and outside of the firm.

Granted, Thompson Hine had a good foundation in place when we launched our women's initiative. Today, our commitment to women is more visible than ever across our organization. Two of our offices are led by female partners. Women head several of our various practice groups. We also have two women serving on our executive committee, the highest level of leadership in our firm.

Not having a history this strong does not necessarily mean you should postpone the launch of a women's initiative, but you will need to make strides to ensure your efforts aren't perceived as “just talk.”

Determine the Mission

One of the first steps in creating a successful women's program is to determine the mission of the initiative. A well-crafted mission statement will serve as the foundation of your program and will guide your activities.

When determining your mission statement, begin by engaging a core group of attorneys, both male and female, in the process. Once the group has prepared a draft, it is essential to get buy in from the firm's leadership to ensure shared expectations about the purpose of the initiative. When the mission has been approved, appoint a committee to determine the initiative's focus, priorities and initial activities.

When defining the purpose of the women's initiative at Thompson Hine, we were ambitious. We determined that our mission is to be a national pacesetter in the legal community in the advancement and promotion of women. We also agreed to create opportunities not only for the women of our firm, but also for our clients, potential clients and friends of the firm. For us, this combined external and internal focus was the cornerstone of the initiative. Thus, the mission must be more than theory, which makes this well defined path a critical first step.

Engage Your Leadership

A successful women's initiative doesn't just involve the members of its committee or even just the women of the firm. It must have the ongoing support of the firm's executive management and the active participation of all female attorneys.

At Thompson Hine, our executive leadership, including our managing partner and office partners-in-charge, regularly support the women's initiative mission and its various programs. his support comes both in terms of dollars as well as communications to the attorneys about the importance of the initiative. The level of engagement by the firm's management sends a strong message to our attorneys, our friends and our colleagues that Thompson Hine's women's initiative is important.

From an organizational perspective, our Spotlight on Women program is led by a firm-wide chair with the support of local chairs who oversee the activities and programs of the initiative in their geographic regions. The chairs communicate regularly to plan activities, discuss programs, set goals and exchange best practices. In addition, we also have several task forces that focus on relevant issues, such as developing metrics that will allow us to measure the success of the program and providing recommendations regarding business development training for our associates.

Create Internal Programs

The Spotlight on Women initiative has both an internal and external focus. Our internal focus devotes resources to help our lawyers take charge of their leadership potential, develop self assessment tools and build professional leadership plans. While you must decide what type of internal support components will be most beneficial to your own firm, below are some examples of the many internal programs within our women's initiative.

Full-Circle Mentoring

Our 360-degree mentoring program provides opportunities for female lawyers to interact and support each other, and build a professional network of women within the firm. Small groups of 10 to 12 women from various practice areas and ranging from first-year associates to senior partners, meet regularly to discuss a wide array of topics. Topics range from life-balance issues to navigating the political climate of the firm to rainmaking and even how to dress the part. Our 360-degree program provides a structure for our women lawyers to help each other in their professional development, to mentor and to be mentored.

Mother-to-Be Mentoring

This program matches a mentor who has been through the experience of becoming a new mom and continuing to practice law, with a female lawyer who is expecting a child. The mentoring process starts from the first announcement of the pregnancy and continues through maternity leave and reintegration. The relationship can cover everything from diapers to billables. This program supports the new mom in remaining connected to the firm throughout her experience.

Professional Development

Professionally developing female lawyers into future firm leaders is also an important component of a strong women's initiative, by offering development opportunities in each office location. For example, our female lawyers attended a three-part interactive Leadership Series in Cleveland and Columbus. These provided guidance and discussion about topics such as “Building a Career Board of Directors,” “Polishing Your Professional Development Plan,” and “How Powerful Women Get Their Way.”

These internal programs should be supplemented by supporting the participation of female associates in various external training programs that promote leadership development, both locally (i.e., the YWCA) and nationally (i.e., DRI).

Work-Life Balance Through Support of Flexible Schedules

Although mentoring and professional development will help female lawyers advance their careers, often it is also necessary to provide work-life balance options for those who find juggling clients, cases, board meetings, carpool, soccer, and homework to be a challenge. Thompson Hine offers flexible schedules with various versions of reduced-hour schedules as well as telecommuting. One of the components of our “Spotlight on Women” program includes a flexible schedule coordinator who oversees the program and serves as facilitator and ombudsperson. The coordinator assists lawyers in formulating the right type of flexible schedule for their practice, monitors to make sure they receive top quality work, and serves as a resource for both the flexible-schedule lawyers and the practice group leaders.

Offer External Programs

Because of our desire to support women in the broader business community, the Spotlight on Women program focuses much of its efforts on bringing professional women together. Our external goals and activities include hosting and sponsoring events for our lawyers to have opportunities to continue to develop strong relationships with these women and to showcase the exceptional women at Thompson Hine.

Perhaps one of the most important components of a women's initiative is the benefit that the firm receives from programs that reach out to clients, potential clients and friends of the firm. Events can be held in partnership with clients or other organizations that support women in law and business. We believe that our partnerships are an essential piece of our initiative, and have allowed our “Spotlight” to shine well beyond our firm's offices. Here are a few of our recent women's initiative events:

• Tools for Going Green, on ways to reduce your impact on the environment
• Protecting Your Intellectual Property ' Recipe for Success: a panel discussion at the Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Culinary Institute about the IP field
• Women, Money and Finance: bringing together women in the financial industry, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
• Moving Above the Glass Ceiling: Leadership Lessons from Women Who Have Reached the Top, an informative panel discussion to share tips from women executives and leaders in the Washington, DC, community.
• Spotlight on Women in Science and Technology: putting the spotlight on women who have excelled in science, information technology and intellectual property,

Our external outreach is also reflected within the communities in which we work. Support of local nonprofit organizations has been an important component of our women's initiative. Annually, each office's women's committee chair selects a charity to partner with and support throughout the year. We have supported the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign, the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, Dress For Success, the Girls Incorporated golf outing, and Interstages (an agency that supports middle school girls gaining skills to become successful women leaders). Whether we are donating clothes or walking five miles, this charitable support has allowed our women to give back to the community while helping to build the visibility and image of Thompson Hine.

It's a Win-Win

It is important to point out that a successful women's initiative doesn't just benefit women. It also provides an excellent return on investment for the firm, and, we believe, the community, as a whole.

All of us at Thompson Hine hope that other firms will follow our lead in establishing impactful women's initiatives. If we can serve as a resource for you in establishing your program, we would welcome the opportunity. We are happy to help because we believe that when firms put a solid women's initiative in place, everybody wins. For more information about Spotlight on Women, please visit our Web site at www.thompsonhine.com.

Heidi Goldstein is a partner at Thompson Hine LLP's Cleveland office, in the Environmental and Product Liability practice groups. She focuses her practice on environmental counseling in business, regulatory and legislative matters, environmental and toxic tort litigation, environmental enforcement actions, site remediation and compliance with environmental regulations. Ms. Goldstein serves as chair of the firm's Women's Initiative.

Law firms across the country continue to struggle with the recruitment, retention and advancement of women. The findings of multiple national surveys consistently show that women make up almost half of all law school graduating classes, yet they account for less than 20% of the partners in most large law firms.

Fortunately, a growing number of firms are committed to making changes in their workplaces ' and in the legal profession as a whole ' when it comes to recruiting, retaining and advancing successful female attorneys. Some of the most impressive results are being achieved by firms with dedicated women's initiatives. Our firm, Cleveland-based Thompson Hine, was a forerunner in this area when we formalized our Spotlight on Women' program in 2005 and we have continued to be the pacesetter in putting the spotlight on women since that time.

Walk the Talk

One of the most important considerations in the decision to establish a women's initiative is the depth of your firm's commitment to the advancement of female attorneys. If the motivation for establishing a women's committee is not rooted in authenticity, the program cannot and will not be successful. Even worse, the initiative may become a visible and embarrassing failure.

Ultimately, firms show their commitment to the careers of their female attorneys through a history of promoting and advancing women. Formalizing a women's initiative is a great step toward that commitment, but it will lack legitimacy until the firm has a history of placing women in significant, influential positions. If your firm has less than stellar statistics regarding women in leadership roles, it may be wise to spend two years (or more) to improve your track record in this area prior to publically launching a formal women's initiative. If you have a history to support your message, your initiative will be more credible and ultimately better received, both internally and outside of the firm.

Granted, Thompson Hine had a good foundation in place when we launched our women's initiative. Today, our commitment to women is more visible than ever across our organization. Two of our offices are led by female partners. Women head several of our various practice groups. We also have two women serving on our executive committee, the highest level of leadership in our firm.

Not having a history this strong does not necessarily mean you should postpone the launch of a women's initiative, but you will need to make strides to ensure your efforts aren't perceived as “just talk.”

Determine the Mission

One of the first steps in creating a successful women's program is to determine the mission of the initiative. A well-crafted mission statement will serve as the foundation of your program and will guide your activities.

When determining your mission statement, begin by engaging a core group of attorneys, both male and female, in the process. Once the group has prepared a draft, it is essential to get buy in from the firm's leadership to ensure shared expectations about the purpose of the initiative. When the mission has been approved, appoint a committee to determine the initiative's focus, priorities and initial activities.

When defining the purpose of the women's initiative at Thompson Hine, we were ambitious. We determined that our mission is to be a national pacesetter in the legal community in the advancement and promotion of women. We also agreed to create opportunities not only for the women of our firm, but also for our clients, potential clients and friends of the firm. For us, this combined external and internal focus was the cornerstone of the initiative. Thus, the mission must be more than theory, which makes this well defined path a critical first step.

Engage Your Leadership

A successful women's initiative doesn't just involve the members of its committee or even just the women of the firm. It must have the ongoing support of the firm's executive management and the active participation of all female attorneys.

At Thompson Hine, our executive leadership, including our managing partner and office partners-in-charge, regularly support the women's initiative mission and its various programs. his support comes both in terms of dollars as well as communications to the attorneys about the importance of the initiative. The level of engagement by the firm's management sends a strong message to our attorneys, our friends and our colleagues that Thompson Hine's women's initiative is important.

From an organizational perspective, our Spotlight on Women program is led by a firm-wide chair with the support of local chairs who oversee the activities and programs of the initiative in their geographic regions. The chairs communicate regularly to plan activities, discuss programs, set goals and exchange best practices. In addition, we also have several task forces that focus on relevant issues, such as developing metrics that will allow us to measure the success of the program and providing recommendations regarding business development training for our associates.

Create Internal Programs

The Spotlight on Women initiative has both an internal and external focus. Our internal focus devotes resources to help our lawyers take charge of their leadership potential, develop self assessment tools and build professional leadership plans. While you must decide what type of internal support components will be most beneficial to your own firm, below are some examples of the many internal programs within our women's initiative.

Full-Circle Mentoring

Our 360-degree mentoring program provides opportunities for female lawyers to interact and support each other, and build a professional network of women within the firm. Small groups of 10 to 12 women from various practice areas and ranging from first-year associates to senior partners, meet regularly to discuss a wide array of topics. Topics range from life-balance issues to navigating the political climate of the firm to rainmaking and even how to dress the part. Our 360-degree program provides a structure for our women lawyers to help each other in their professional development, to mentor and to be mentored.

Mother-to-Be Mentoring

This program matches a mentor who has been through the experience of becoming a new mom and continuing to practice law, with a female lawyer who is expecting a child. The mentoring process starts from the first announcement of the pregnancy and continues through maternity leave and reintegration. The relationship can cover everything from diapers to billables. This program supports the new mom in remaining connected to the firm throughout her experience.

Professional Development

Professionally developing female lawyers into future firm leaders is also an important component of a strong women's initiative, by offering development opportunities in each office location. For example, our female lawyers attended a three-part interactive Leadership Series in Cleveland and Columbus. These provided guidance and discussion about topics such as “Building a Career Board of Directors,” “Polishing Your Professional Development Plan,” and “How Powerful Women Get Their Way.”

These internal programs should be supplemented by supporting the participation of female associates in various external training programs that promote leadership development, both locally (i.e., the YWCA) and nationally (i.e., DRI).

Work-Life Balance Through Support of Flexible Schedules

Although mentoring and professional development will help female lawyers advance their careers, often it is also necessary to provide work-life balance options for those who find juggling clients, cases, board meetings, carpool, soccer, and homework to be a challenge. Thompson Hine offers flexible schedules with various versions of reduced-hour schedules as well as telecommuting. One of the components of our “Spotlight on Women” program includes a flexible schedule coordinator who oversees the program and serves as facilitator and ombudsperson. The coordinator assists lawyers in formulating the right type of flexible schedule for their practice, monitors to make sure they receive top quality work, and serves as a resource for both the flexible-schedule lawyers and the practice group leaders.

Offer External Programs

Because of our desire to support women in the broader business community, the Spotlight on Women program focuses much of its efforts on bringing professional women together. Our external goals and activities include hosting and sponsoring events for our lawyers to have opportunities to continue to develop strong relationships with these women and to showcase the exceptional women at Thompson Hine.

Perhaps one of the most important components of a women's initiative is the benefit that the firm receives from programs that reach out to clients, potential clients and friends of the firm. Events can be held in partnership with clients or other organizations that support women in law and business. We believe that our partnerships are an essential piece of our initiative, and have allowed our “Spotlight” to shine well beyond our firm's offices. Here are a few of our recent women's initiative events:

• Tools for Going Green, on ways to reduce your impact on the environment
• Protecting Your Intellectual Property ' Recipe for Success: a panel discussion at the Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Culinary Institute about the IP field
• Women, Money and Finance: bringing together women in the financial industry, held at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
• Moving Above the Glass Ceiling: Leadership Lessons from Women Who Have Reached the Top, an informative panel discussion to share tips from women executives and leaders in the Washington, DC, community.
• Spotlight on Women in Science and Technology: putting the spotlight on women who have excelled in science, information technology and intellectual property,

Our external outreach is also reflected within the communities in which we work. Support of local nonprofit organizations has been an important component of our women's initiative. Annually, each office's women's committee chair selects a charity to partner with and support throughout the year. We have supported the American Heart Association's Go Red For Women campaign, the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, Dress For Success, the Girls Incorporated golf outing, and Interstages (an agency that supports middle school girls gaining skills to become successful women leaders). Whether we are donating clothes or walking five miles, this charitable support has allowed our women to give back to the community while helping to build the visibility and image of Thompson Hine.

It's a Win-Win

It is important to point out that a successful women's initiative doesn't just benefit women. It also provides an excellent return on investment for the firm, and, we believe, the community, as a whole.

All of us at Thompson Hine hope that other firms will follow our lead in establishing impactful women's initiatives. If we can serve as a resource for you in establishing your program, we would welcome the opportunity. We are happy to help because we believe that when firms put a solid women's initiative in place, everybody wins. For more information about Spotlight on Women, please visit our Web site at www.thompsonhine.com.

Heidi Goldstein is a partner at Thompson Hine LLP's Cleveland office, in the Environmental and Product Liability practice groups. She focuses her practice on environmental counseling in business, regulatory and legislative matters, environmental and toxic tort litigation, environmental enforcement actions, site remediation and compliance with environmental regulations. Ms. Goldstein serves as chair of the firm's Women's Initiative.