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International law firm Herbert Smith Freehills has achieved Gold Standard Certification from Women in Law Empowerment Forum – one of only nine UK firms to achieve this accreditation.

The Women in Law Empowerment Forum LLC (WILEF), now in its 13th year, is focused on driving gender parity within the largest law firms and corporate law departments in the US, the UK and Paris. Law firms with 100 or more practicing lawyers in the UK are eligible for certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their highest leadership positions.

Herbert Smith Freehills Executive Partner, Alison Brown, said: "We are extremely proud to have achieved this certification. As is now globally understood, businesses that embrace diversity are likely to perform better and deliver greater outcomes for their people and clients. Gender parity is a key part of this and we are focused on creating a workplace where men and women are equally represented at all levels in our firm. We are proud of our progress and will continue to push this agenda for years to come."

For 2019 Gold Standard UK Certification, firms must satisfy at least three of the five criteria: 20% of equity partners or, alternatively, 33% of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past 12 months 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 and 7% of women equity partners are non-white or 3.5% of women equity partners are LGBT.

For more information about WILEF and the Gold Standard Certification, please click here.

Click here to see our current gender targets.