Women now make up a third of top-tier law firm Freehills’ Board with the recent appointment of partner Jane Hodder.
After an annual election Ms Hodder joined fellow female board members, partner Rebecca Maslen-Stannage and Helen Nugent who is an external board member.
‘It is fantastic to see that not only do we now have women make up a third of our board, but also over 21% of our partnership and 60% of our lawyers. Women also hold a number of key senior leadership positions on our Executive team such as our COO Janet Young and Director of Knowledge Management, Nicole Bamforth,’ Freehills Chief Executive and Managing Partner Gavin Bell said.
‘We are proud that we were the first major Australian law firm to appoint a female partner in 1978, and we remain focused on creating a work environment that enables women to be successful, fulfilled and to take on leadership roles.’
This latest appointment reflects Freehills’ commitment to creating and supporting a high performance culture that enables all people to take on roles that fulfil and challenge them, and that encourages and supports more women to take on leadership positions.
Freehills has also been vocal on the issue of increasing women in leadership positions in the broader business community, recently hosting an AICD Mentors and Mentees dinner as part of the launch of the AICD’s mentoring program whereby chairmen from ASX200 companies will mentor senior executive women to prepare them for director responsibilities. In addition, Freehills has been heavily involved in advising on ASX board diversity requirements.
Freehills’ own ‘Women at Freehills’ strategy includes partner development programs focused on improving career conversations, challenging mindsets and assumptions about gender; coaching programs; focus groups; setting partner targets; parental support programs; flexible working plans; and regular policy reviews.
The Freehills Board is made up of nine members, seven of whom are partners of the firm.
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