Bowditch Honored with Second Empowering Women Award
Bowditch has been named to Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s Empowering Women list for the second year in a row, citing the firm’s strong commitment to supporting and elevating female attorneys.
Bowditch achieved several key gender equity milestones this year. For the first time in its 110-year history, the firm now has more female than male attorneys.
Not only can it claim an attorney roster that is more than 50% female, but its key promotions all involved female lawyers this year. It elevated one partner to equity partner, one of counsel attorney to partner and one associate to partner – and all are women.
Currently, 36% of the firm’s equity partners are women, and the equity pipeline over the next few years is an equal mix of male and female attorneys. In addition, three of the firm’s five-member business leadership team and one of its three practice area leaders are female.
“We are extremely proud of our progress toward gender equity in our workforce. We intend to keep pushing and moving the needle for the industry,” said John Shoro, Bowditch’s managing partner. “Our transparent, supportive, equitable, and inclusive policies helped us recruit several new attorneys in 2024, including an impressive Family Law and Fiduciary Litigation practice consisting of primarily women.”
Bowditch’s progress in achieving gender equity is due, in part, to its strong support of women as well as its recruitment strategy. Of the 17 lawyers who have joined the firm this year, more than half are women.
The firm has a strong women’s initiative program, focused on business development. One of its most popular activities, now in its third year, is Bowditch Birdies, designed to make golf more approachable for women who have historically missed out on golf course deal making.
The two-part event, which includes golf lessons, has received rave reviews, with one recent participant thanking the firm for its unique approach in making a 15th century game its own. “Women need spaces like this to be their authentic selves to connect and grow their network to its full potential,” she wrote.
Bowditch also supports flexible schedules and has had several of its attorneys take advantage of reduced hours and its hybrid work environment. Not only can attorneys work in the office just three days a week, but they also can work from home for two full weeks a year.
The firm also supports women with extensive training and development opportunities, including coaching, book clubs and a speaker series. It partners with the Association of Corporate Counsel Northeast Women’s Initiative, which will host a talk this fall entitled “Burnout and Imposter Syndrome: The Two Silent Killers in the Workplace.”
Categorized: Women
Tagged In: DEI initiatives, DEI policies, female lawyers, gender equity, women’s initiatives
