Foley & Mansfield Champions Gender Parity; Firm Named #2 in National Law Journal Women in Law Rankings

Foley & Mansfield is pleased to announce that the firm has been named #2 among the 2016 National Law Journal Women in Law rankings, and has again been listed among the nation’s largest law firms – the NLJ 500. The firm ranked #271 in the annual listing, which this year was expanded to include the top 500 law firms in the nation.

The Women in Law rank was calculated by adding each firm’s percentage of women attorneys with its percentage of women partners, a formula that gives extra weight to women in the partnership ranks.

“Partnership, and especially equity partnership, is a critical gauge of the firm’s diversity and inclusion initiatives,” says firm founder Kyle Mansfield. “It is one thing to be committed to hiring women and minorities, it is another to provide real opportunities for all of our professionals to be leaders and in turn owners in their own right,” he added.

This sentiment rings especially true with Lisa Lamm Bachman, an employment and business litigator in the firm’s Minneapolis office who, despite a demanding practice, also spearheads the office’s pro bono efforts and serves as a mentor for its younger commercial attorneys. Bachman, who originally joined the firm in 2008 and was named to the partnership in 2010, left the firm for nearly one and a half years before realizing that she deeply missed the professional support, comradery, and lifestyle benefits Foley & Mansfield provided. She rejoined the firm in 2013, and was subsequently named to the equity partnership in 2016. “I knew this was the right firm for me as I am supported in trying to balance the demands of a busy practice with my personal obligations,” she said. “Foley & Mansfield provides opportunities for professional growth and development, as well as recognition of hard work and accomplishments both in and out of the courtroom.”

Since she first began her legal career, Virginia Easley Johnson, managing partner of Foley & Mansfield’s Miami office, has experienced first hand many of the challenges female attorneys have faced in the market, along with the changing attitudes and actions regarding advancement for women since. “When I started practicing in 1986, I was indeed fortunate to start with a firm who afforded me the opportunity to be their first female litigator. Since then, I have endeavored to mentor, train, and encourage other women to be litigators,” she says. As the firm’s first woman managing partner, she opened its Miami office in 2003, and was named to the equity partnership the following year. Johnson, who sits on the firm’s executive committee, also organizes Foley & Mansfield’s annual service trip, this year assisting with infrastructure on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana. “Foley and Mansfield has always provided women the opportunity to succeed without sacrificing family and lifestyle choices. It’s about being a well-rounded person,” she adds.

The full NLJ Women in Law listing can be viewed here.