Deals in Heels: 80 Percent of New S&C Partners Women

[WSJ_law_blog]

We’re not sure the following news marks anything globally significant (like the sign of a turnaround at Big Law firms or the final smashing of the glass ceiling), but we’re finding it interesting nevertheless. On Wednesday, the venerable Sullivan & Cromwell promoted five associates to partner — four of whom are women. Click here for the story, from the New York Law Journal.

Rodge Cohen, firm chairman (pictured), attributed the growth in female partner ranks to policies the firm put in place to promote the retention of women lawyers, such as flex-time and maternity leave. “I think hopefully as we have more and more women joining us it will be the new normal,” Cohen said. “We certainly for a long time have been trying to promote more women and more minorities.” Of 172 partners at Sullivan & Cromwell, 30 are now women.

Of the new partners, three were in New York, while the London and Palo Alto offices made one each. Three focus on corporate work; one on trusts and estates; and one in tax.

At five, the number of new partners is the same as last year — a number that didn’t seem to signify much to Cohen. “We’re obviously not going to stop making partners because of the financial conditions,” Cohen said.