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In addition to sponsoring the Global Women's Forum, Baker Botts also provides several formal and informal mentoring, networking, and business development opportunities and programs for our female lawyers. One such program is the Enterprising Women's Series, which is in its fifth year of providing business and professional development networking opportunities to our female lawyers and clients. These programs bring together the female lawyers in the Texas offices with important firm clients, and provide our female associates with an opportunity to learn valuable networking skills under the guidance of our female partners.
The firm's public commitment to diversity is further affirmed by our becoming a signatory to the Houston Bar Association's Gender Fairness Initiative Commitment Statement, which pledges an increase in initiatives and programs to promote gender fairness within the legal industry.
Work/Life Balance
An important part of promoting diversity is facilitating balance between work and family life. In furtherance of the firm's commitment to continue to attract and retain talented and diverse lawyers, while also recognizing that our lawyers have responsibilities outside the firm, Baker Botts adopted an Alternative Work Program. Under this policy, reduced-hour schedules are available to our lawyers, both partners and associates, who need to work on a reduced schedule for childcare or family reasons. In crafting this policy, the firm evaluated "best practices" as well as policies enacted by comparable firms to create a policy that is consistent with Baker Botts' core values and commitment to its clients. Currently, 12 percent of our female partners and 12.6 percent of our associates/counsel work an alternative or part-time schedule. Two of our female lawyers were elevated to partner status while working a reduced-hour schedule.
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