For instance, female lawyers now hold 21 percent of seats on the executive committee, up from 19 percent in 2011; 20 percent of the top 50 firms are now led by female managing partners, which is up from 16 percent in 2007; the top 50 firms offer 15 weeks of paid maternity leave, up from 14 last year.
The purpose of this initiative is to choose 50 of the best law firms from a pool of self-selected applicants of firms holding 50 or more lawyers, and condone them for the right direction they are taking.
What they eagerly seek is for firms to hire more female leaders. "To see women in higher leadership roles is really important because that means there is a leadership pipeline that is developing," said Henry. "And when we get to a place where there is more representation of women at the top, it will allow for many more opportunities for women who are coming through the ranks. So leadership is a very important area."
Flexible schedules are also important to the survey. 19 percent of the 50 firms offer flexible schedules, compared to 11 percent last year, and 9 percent work at reduced hours.
"Part of it is flexibility -- you have a third of women lawyers leaving the profession independent of maternity leave," Henry said. "So it's really important that work-life policies are accessible and people feel like they can really use them without stigma."
Using them without stigma is important, and part of the survey was to go beyond whether firms merely had policies in the books, but if they were truly using them.
"Whenever we ask policy questions, we also try to follow up by asking usage rate questions or representation questions," said Henry. "It's not enough that a policy is on the books. We want to know if the policy is viable."
The survey has a trajectory as well. Though 18 percent of equity partners are female, they want firms to reach a "critical mass level" of 30 percent.
