Women in Law Empowerment Forum Awards Stoel Rives With Sixth Consecutive Gold Standard Certification

The law firm of Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to announce that – for the sixth year in a row – it has received a Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum ("WILEF"). WILEF is the leading organization for women in law dedicated to assisting women in the largest law firms and corporate law departments in advancing their careers—through developing a sense of empowerment and becoming leaders. The certification process focuses on whether women were significantly represented in a firm’s top leadership positions and among its top-earning attorneys. Of several hundred law firms solicited, Stoel Rives is one of only 31 law firms nationwide to meet the certification requirements, which saw heightened criteria added for 2016, and one of only 13 to be certified all six years since the inception of the award.

“Congratulations to WILEF for their continuing efforts to promote genuinely inclusive firm leadership cultures,” said Tim Taylor, chair of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. “We’re very proud to receive this recognition of our efforts to advance professional opportunities for our women lawyer colleagues.”

The WILEF Certification criteria require that the number of women at a firm meets four or more of the following criteria:

• Women account for at least 20% of equity partners or alternatively, 33% or more of attorneys who became equity partners during the past twelve months.
• Women represent at least 15% of firm chairs and U.S. office managing partners. [Up from 10%]
• Women make up at least 20% of the firm's primary governance committee.
• Women represent at least 20% of the firm's compensation committee.
• Women make up at least 25% of U.S. practice group leaders or department heads.
• Women represent at least 15% of the top half of equity partners in terms of compensation. [Up from 10%]

About Stoel Rives LLP: Stoel Rives is a business law firm providing corporate and litigation services to clients in the Energy & Infrastructure, Agribusiness, Food & Beverage, Manufacturing & Consumer Products, Technology, Life Sciences, Healthcare, Government & Public Agencies and Natural Resources industries throughout the United States. The firm has nearly 400 attorneys operating out of 11 offices in seven states and the District of Columbia. Stoel Rives is a leader in corporate, energy, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment, land use and construction, litigation, natural resources, project development and real estate law. For more information, follow @stoelrives or visit www.stoel.com.