Holland & Knight Earns Gold Standard Recertification from Women in Law Empowerment Forum for Sixth Consecutive Year

MIAMI (June 27, 2016) - For the sixth year in a row, Holland & Knight earned Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for its achievement in providing women attorneys with opportunities for financial success and positions at the highest level of firm leadership.

WILEF's Gold Standard Certification Awards Initiative is the only initiative directed toward certifying and publicly recognizing eligible law firms that have met its criteria for empowering women attorneys.

In order to merit this honor, law firms must meet four of the following six criteria: Women must make up a minimum of 20 percent of U.S. equity partners or a third of non-lateral attorneys that became U.S. equity partners within the previous 12 months; 15 percent of firm and U.S. branch office heads combined; 20 percent of the primary governance committee; 20 percent of the compensation committee or its equivalent; 25 percent of U.S. practice group leaders or department heads; and 15 percent of the top half of U.S. equity partners by compensation.

This year, WILEF increased the minimum requirement for female firm and branch heads to 15 percent from 10 percent, and the percentage of women in the top half of partner compensation to 15 percent from 10 percent. As a result, only 31 firms met the criteria, as opposed to 44 in 2015.

"We need to keep raising the bar in order to encourage firms to continue making progress," said Elizabeth Anne "Betiayn" Tursi, global chair and co-founder of WILEF. "The Gold Standard acknowledges leaders of the profession."

About WILEF: Founded in 1997, WILEF is dedicated to assisting women in law to assume leadership roles within the Am Law 100, Second Hundred and Fortune 1000 legal departments and within their respective communities. It presents cutting-edge programming that provides an educational and networking forum for women attorneys. www.wilef.com