"To demonstrate Saul Ewing's commitment to the success of its women attorneys by fostering opportunities for professional, social and personal growth for all women attorneys and promoting the attraction and retention of women attorneys, their successful development of business, and their advancement to partnership and leadership roles within the Firm."
Saul Ewing's Women's Initiative was founded in May 2008 to create a formal vehicle to promote the professional growth of the firm's female attorneys. It also functions as an advocate for women attorneys by supporting their advancement to partnership and leadership roles within the firm. The Initiative revolves around training programs and client events to support women attorneys' professional advancement.
Women's Initiative Events
For example, to kick off the Initiative, the firm hosted a reception at Brasserie Perrier in Philadelphia where Carol Ann Petren, Vice President and General Counsel for Cigna Corp., credited Saul Ewing for establishing a formal program to support female attorneys. "What you are doing at Saul Ewing needs to be done," she said. "I can't overstate how valuable a diverse setting is, and I can tell you, at CIGNA, it influences our choice of law firms. It is something we look at quite carefully."
Since then, the Initiative has hosted numerous such events, including:
A Night at the Barnes – The galleries at Philadelphia's renowned Barnes Foundation were standing-room only in June 2010 when the firm hosted a private reception and a tour of the arts for clients. The evening of networking and culture in one of the nation's most unique museums was a testament to the creative minds behind the Initiative. The event offered clients and other guests the opportunity to enjoy a private reception with Saul Ewing's women attorneys and to view the Barnes Collection in its original and intimate setting before it moves to a new location in Center City Philadelphia.
In 2009, the Initiative focused on helping women attorneys find that tricky balance between personal lives and professional advancement. Claudia Trupp, a criminal defense attorney specializing in appellate litigation for 16 years and the author of "Hard Time & Nursery Rhymes: A Mother's Tales of Law and Disorder" attended a Saul Ewing luncheon in April 2009 and shared her struggles to balance parenthood with a career defending hardened criminals. In June 2009, Saul Ewing partnered with FTI Consulting to provide a training session on business development that ended with a "speed meeting" event among the Saul Ewing attorneys and the FTI women. The exercise gave everyone a chance to meet everyone else in the room and to practice their professional "what do you do?" speech at least 20 times.
In July 2008, the firm hosted a luncheon presentation, "Insight from the Inside: Approaches to Business Development and Networking," featuring Helen Pudlin, General Counsel of PNC. In November, the Initiative sponsored a cooking class at Brasserie Tatin, a contemporary French restaurant in Baltimore, that drew 17 clients from such companies as Constellation Energy, NRT, Inc., Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, and the Maryland Public Service Commission.
Recognition from the Pennsylvania Bar Association
The Initiative's efforts were recognized in August 2009 when Saul Ewing was one of nine Pennsylvania law firms named to the Pennsylvania Bar Association's (PBA) Honor Roll of Legal Organizations Welcoming Women Professionals. The PBA Commission on Women in the Profession selected the honorees by reviewing programs and initiatives statewide that help women lawyers advance. The Commission cited the establishment of the Women's Initiative as a key factor in its decision to honor Saul Ewing.
Leadership
Members