Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, LLP (WSHB) proudly announces our firm’s number seven ranking on the National Law Journal’s (NLJ) Women in Law Scorecard for 2020. The Women in Law Scorecard ranks the United States’ largest law firms by representation of women attorneys. Scorecard rankings are calculated by adding each firm’s percentage of total women lawyers with the percentage of partners who are women.
“WSHB and its leadership are committed to fostering and promoting an environment in which its women attorneys can flourish at all levels,” said Janice Michaels, managing partner of the firm’s Las Vegas office. “During my tenure with WSHB, recognition and advancement of women attorneys has been a consistent priority at the firm. The goal has always been greater than simply recruiting women attorneys as that alone is not enough – the goal has been and continues to be nurturing and encouraging WSHB’s women attorneys to excel in their practices, to assist them in creating and expanding client relationships and to mentor them to become leaders both within the firm and in the local communities.”
Tracy Abatemarco, WSHB's co-managing partner in New York, similarly had to say, "When I look back at my career, and my industry, I am encouraged by the strides women have made, in the field, and the respect and equality deserved. When I walked into my first deposition with a group of male attorneys, I was greeted by the words, 'are you the court reporter?' While women in the legal field have made progress towards our right to be considered equal to our male counterparts, there is still progress to be made. I am so proud to be part of a firm that supports strong women in leadership."
In addition to this top ten ranking, WSHB has also moved up in the rankings on the National Law Journal’s 2020 NLJ 500, jumping into the 139th position. The NLJ 500 is an annual survey of the 500 largest law firms in the United States. This represents the single largest jump within the NLJ 500 2020 rankings.
The 2020 Women in Law Scorecard is produced as part of the annual NLJ 500 firm headcount report. Data on gender diversity at firms is collected when firms report financial numbers and head counts to ALM. Only the largest 350 firms are eligible for the Women's Scorecard. Diversity staffing counts are based on a firm's average FTE attorneys in 2019.The NLJ 500 is the National Law Journal's survey of the 500 largest law firms in the United States covering the previous calendar year. Data is collected from firms at the same time as the Am Law financial numbers. ALM sent surveys in 2020 to more than 900 law firms to determine the 500 largest U.S.-centric firms by headcount. Lawyer totals are based on the average number of full-time equivalent (FTE) attorneys for the period between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2019.
About Wood Smith Henning & Berman:
WSHB is a full service litigation firm with offices throughout the United States. The firm has tried over 1,000 cases to verdict, and is internationally recognized for its exceptionally high rate of success. Since the firm’s inception in 1997 by trial lawyers David Wood, Kevin Smith, Stephen Henning and Daniel Berman, WSHB has been known as the national “go to” firm for complex civil litigation in professional liability, employment, commercial, medical malpractice and healthcare, construction, environmental, real estate, transportation, subrogation, toxic tort and intellectual property litigation. Additionally, WSHB also regularly handles first and third party coverage issues for the London market. The firm has consistently been named one of the top law firms in the nation for both diversity and female lawyers. WSHB’s lawyers take pride in each and every case and all ultimate results. Most of all, WSHB is proud of their organic growth which translates into consistent results and handling office to office.