Womble Bond Dickinson Named a 2018 Women in Law Empowerment Forum Gold Standard Firm for Women in Leadership

6/15/18

For the third time in four years, Womble Bond Dickinson has been honored for integrating women into top leadership positions within the firm.

The Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) has named Womble Bond Dickinson a 2018 Gold Standard Firm. In order to earn this honor, firms must “meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions, and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners.” The firm also was honored by WILEF in 2015 and 2017.

This year, the standards are even tougher than in previous years. For 2018 Gold Standard Certification, firms must satisfy both the mandatory criterion that:

  • 20% of equity partners or, alternatively, 33% of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months are women


and at least three of the following five criteria:

  • 15% of firm and U.S. branch office heads are women
  • 20% of the firm’s primary governance committee are women
  • 20% of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women
  • 15% of the top half of the firm’s equity partners in terms of compensation are women
  • 7% of women equity partners are women of color or 3.5% of women equity partners are LGBT


Womble Bond Dickinson was one of only 42 law firms nationally to earn WILEF Gold Standard Firm status in 2018.

Women serve in key roles and in many of the top leadership positions at Womble Bond Dickinson, including serving on the Firm Management Committee and Executive Committee, as Office Managing Partners, Department Heads, Practice Group and Team Leaders, and Chairs of Key Firm Committees.

In addition, Betty Temple became the firm’s Chair and Managing Partner on Jan. 1, 2016, while Ellen Gregg serves as Vice-Chair. In fact, Womble Bond Dickinson’s four-partner Executive Committee consists entirely of women.

Womble Bond Dickinson also supports Women of Womble (WOW), a leadership initiative aimed at promoting and supporting women lawyers—both within the firm and beyond. WOW is committed to helping women succeed in their professional development, promotion to partnership, business development and leadership opportunities.

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