Ballard Spahr Earns 13th Consecutive Annual Gold Standard From Women in Law Empowerment Forum

For the 13th year in a row, Ballard Spahr has earned Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF)—one of just four law firms nationwide to achieve the standard every year since the program's inception in 2011.

WILEF confers Gold Standard Certification on law firms that meet objective criteria for women in leadership, equity partner percentage, and compensation. Ballard Spahr is one of only 16 firms across the country to meet all six of WILEF’s criteria for 2023:

• 25% of equity partners or, alternatively, 40% of the attorneys becoming equity partners during the past twelve months are women
• 10% of women equity partners are women of color, or 4% of women equity partners are LGBTQ+
• 20% of firm and U.S. branch office heads are women
• 25% of the firm’s primary governance committee are women
• 25% of the firm’s compensation committee or its equivalent are women
• 20% of the top half of the firm’s equity partners in terms of compensation are women

Women comprise 31% of Ballard Spahr equity partners, 55% of the firm’s Elected Board, 50% of legal department chair positions, and 36%—including 18% women of color—of the firm’s Allocation Committee, which applies compensation allocation policies and criteria adopted by the Board. The firm provides professional development support designed to bolster the trajectory of women into key participation and leadership roles, both inside and outside the firm. Ballard Spahr is home to a wide range of networking, sponsorship, and mentoring programs for women at all career levels. The firm supports its female lawyers through the Ballard Women business resource group, led by led by Holly V. Horsley, Siobhan O'Donnell Sachs, Sarah B. Dannecker, and Catherine I. Seibel.

For media inquiries, please contact Bill Shralow at 215.864.8195.