International law firm Dorsey & Whitney LLP announced today that it has once again received Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF). WILEF Certification is the only initiative directed toward certifying, publicly recognizing and broadly publicizing eligible law firms that have integrated women into the highest leadership positions in the firm.

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“We are pleased that the Women in Law Empowerment Forum has once again chosen Dorsey to be Gold Standard-Certified,” noted Ken Cutler, Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney. “We are committed to the advancement of women within the Firm and throughout the legal profession.”

Law firms with 300 or more practicing lawyers in the United States are eligible for the WILEF Gold Standard Certification if they successfully demonstrate that women represent a meaningful percentage of their equity partners, of their highest leadership positions, of their governance and compensation committees and of their most highly compensated partners. Only 45 firms nationally have qualified for this recognition to date in 2017. Dorsey was previously certified as WILEF Gold Standard in 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2016.

“It's an honor to be awarded with this prestigious certification, again, and it is testament to our culture of supporting women as leaders,” said Rebecca Bernhard, Firm-wide Diversity Co-Chair and a Partner in the Labor & Employment Group. “Gender equity is among the Firm’s longstanding priorities. We are proud of what we have accomplished, but recognize the advancement of women in the law is a long-term process.”

WILEF’s Gold Standard Certification, a program now in its seventh year, has become harder to obtain following the decision to tighten some of the criteria that firms must meet to demonstrate their commitment to promoting and fairly compensating women.

About Dorsey & Whitney LLPClients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated, proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including leaders in the banking, energy, food and agribusiness, health care, mining and natural resources, and public-private project development sectors, as well as major non-profit and government entities.

Dorsey & Whitney LLPJeri Longtin-Kloss, 612-492-5315longtin.kloss.jeri@dorsey.com