Blank Rome Pledges Support of Houston Bar Association’s Gender Fairness Commitment Statement
As an initial signatory, the Firm continues its ongoing commitment to retaining and advancing women in the legal industry.
Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that the Firm is one of the initial signatories to the Houston Bar Association’s Gender Fairness Commitment Statement, which asks firms and legal departments to take “concrete action” to “materially increase” the number of women who are partners and firm leaders by 2020. The Commitment Statement was unveiled at the Gender Fairness Committee’s 15th Anniversary Celebration in April, co-sponsored by Blank Rome and other participating firms and organizations.
Blank Rome’s Houston attorneys have actively participated in and supported the Gender Fairness Committee and its various projects as well as related Houston-area gender equality events and publications. For example, Partner Susan Bickley has served as a member of the Gender Fairness Committee; Associate Emery Gullickson Richards served as co-chair of the Committee’s November 2017 CLE panel discussion on the legal industry’s adoption of the “Mansfield Rule” and also interviewed Shauna Johnson Clark, the first African-American woman partner of a major Houston law firm, for The Houston Lawyer’s “Women in the Law” issue; and Partner Keith Letourneau served as a mentor at the Committee's 2018 Speed Mentoring Event to facilitate one-on-one discussions between women attorneys in the initial stage of their careers in the legal profession and leading attorneys in the field, in which Associate Anastasia Dodd also participated.
In addition, Blank Rome is actively dedicated to numerous other gender equality initiatives that enhance the Firm’s commitment to retaining and advancing women in the legal industry. Through the Firm’s Women’s Forum, Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and various leadership initiatives, Blank Rome actively promotes its diverse practice group leaders and vice chairs; identifies and commits to sponsorship and client development opportunities, including the Firm’s recent “Business Development Boot Camp” for women attorneys; supports flexible work arrangements; and obtains ongoing feedback from its female professionals on advancement benchmarks and transparency goals.
As a result of these initiatives as well as Blank Rome’s participation in various other diversity and inclusion programs, such as Diversity Lab’s Mansfield Rule 2.0 and Women in Law Hackathon Alliance, the Firm has been highly ranked and recognized by Working Mother's Best Law Firms for Women Survey, the Human Rights Campaign 2018 Corporate Equality Index, and Yale Law Women’s 2018 Top Ten Female Friendly Firms Report, to name a few.
Blank Rome is honored to support the important work of the Houston Bar Association’s Gender Fairness Committee, and looks forward to continuing its commitment in helping women attorneys achieve equality in the legal industry.