Women@Weil
Women@Weil embraces the talents and energy of women attorneys across Weil, focusing on mentoring, networking, recruiting, retention, advancement, pro bono initiatives, business development and outreach.
Women's Advancement
Women Leaders: There are 76 women partners globally. Thirty-one percent of the Firm’s U.S. partners are women. Seventeen women serve as leaders of departments, offices, practice groups, or are Firmwide committee chairs or Management Committee members. The General Counsel and two Management Committee members are women. Forty-three percent of U.S. partners promoted since 2007 are women.
TOWER (Taskforce on Women’s Engagement & Retention): A committee of women and men partners are focused on the advancement and development of women attorneys globally. TOWER members represent all four Firm departments and 9 offices. One co-chair and 40% of attorney members are men.
Women@Weil: Since many of the challenges facing women in the workplace transcend borders, our women’s affinity group has a global outlook. There is a global Leadership Board that oversees Firmwide efforts, with office leaders spearheading local efforts.
Management Committee Sponsor: Each affinity group has an appointed senior leader sponsor, who is not a member of that demographic group. The sponsors are charged with understanding key issues the group members face and advocating for necessary change. Michael Francies, managing partner of Weil’s London office and a partner in the Corporate group, is the sponsor for Women@Weil and TOWER.
View the Women@Weil Fact Sheet
Read "Pitch Parity: Transforming Gender Diversity in Client Pitch Activity"
Mentoring & Professional Development
Mentoring Circles
Mentors Across Borders
Women of Impact
Women’s History Month
Weil honors Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (IWD) through special programs and publications. In 2019, we launched the Weil Women’s Wisdom panel series where women leaders at the Firm share advice to with the next generation of attorneys. This advice, along with statistics and awards, is compiled in an annually updated publication, “Advice to Our Younger Selves.”
Past Women’s History Month/IWD programs include:
- Fireside chat with Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, who developed the concept of intersectionality.
- A pan-European panel featuring Devi Sridhar and Dr. Anna Blakney, two women at the forefront of fighting the pandemic.
- Fireside chats with recently retired women partners Marcia Goldstein, former head of the Restructuring Department, and Ellen Odoner, former head of the Public Company Advisory Group.
Client & Alumni Development
Virtual and In-Person Events
Women@Weil hosts in person and virtual events where clients can get to know our attorneys (and vice versa) in fun and educational settings, Past events include:
- Mindfulness Luncheon for Private Equity Clients in Boston
- “Women Run the World” team charity run organized by W@W Germany to support two organizations assisting women in the workplace
- Private viewing of “Dior, from Paris to the World” in Dallas’
- “Rides & Rosé” charity cycling class in support of the Tahirih Justice Center in Silicon Valley
- several Weil offices hosted clients at tour stops of Becoming: An Intimate Conversation with Michelle Obama.
Women Partner & Client Retreat
Community
Sponsorships
Intersectionality
The diversity of women is recognized through programming and affinity group partnerships:
- Biannual breakfasts for women attorneys of color and regular virtual programs.
- LGBTQ+ women programs, such as a panel discussion with London partner Jenny Doak and Weil alumni sharing their career paths and their experiences as LGBTQ+ women in law.
- Educational diversity programs with an intersectional perspective on gender identity including:
- Women’s History Month program featuring Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw who developed the concept of intersectionality.
- Pride Month program with Gabby Rivera about the intersectionality of gender identity and race in the LGBTQ+ community.
- Transgender Awareness Month program with Anya Marino and Alejandra Caraballo, the first transgender women of color to teach at Harvard Law School.
Work/Life Balance
Work-Life Task Force
Developed in response to recommendations from the Task Force on Women’s Engagement and Retention, the global Work-Life Task Force was formed to recognize the challenges of practicing law in a global professional services firm and offers a suite of work-life programs and benefits reflecting the diverse needs of our attorneys:
- Career and life coaching is offered to both female and male attorneys and their significant others for any reason, including juggling multiple client responsibilities, elder care and parenting.
- Back up in-home care for child and adult dependents,
- Access to Milk Stork, which helps business traveling, nursing mothers store and ship their milk back home to her baby while she is away.
Flexible Work Arrangements
Inclusive Parental Leave and Family Planning Benefits
Following the birth or adoption of a child, U.S. associates and counsel are eligible for 10 weeks of paid Parental Leave, regardless of gender or caregiver status. Birth mothers and primary caregivers of an adopted child or a child born by surrogate are eligible for an additional 10 weeks of paid Parental Leave, for a total of 20 weeks.
Weil’s enhanced fertility, adoption and surrogacy benefits include a 3-retrieval cycle fertility limit plus elective egg freezing with 1 year of storage and reimbursement up to $25,000 per adoption/surrogacy.
Mothers@Weil
Key Contacts







Meredith Moore
Director, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
New York
- +1 (212) 310-6769
- meredith.moore@weil.com
Firm News and Announcements
- Twenty-two Weil Partners Shortlisted for Euromoney's 2022 Americas Women in Business Law Awards Firm Announcement — April 20, 2022
- Jenny Davidson Named to Global Restructuring Review’s 40 Under 40 for 2022 Firm Announcement — April 01, 2022
- Jenny Davidson Recognized Among the U.K.’s Top 25 Up and Coming Women in Law Firm Announcement — March 09, 2022
- Elizabeth Weiswasser Named Among Top 50 Women in PTAB Trials for 2021 by PTAB Bar Association’s Women’s Committee Firm Announcement — March 02, 2022
- Weil Elects 26 New Partners and Announces New Counsel Class Firm Announcement — November 23, 2021
- Vynessa Nemunaitis Named 2021 Texas Legal Excellence Award Winner by Texas Lawyer Magazine Firm Announcement — November 16, 2021