K&L Gates Again Recognized with WILEF Gold Standard Certification

Dallas – Global law firm K&L Gates LLP has again been recognized with a Gold Standard Certification by the Women in Law Empowerment Forum (WILEF) for the seventh time for achieving high levels of firm partnership and leadership roles held by women.

WILEF, a premier organization for women in law, is exclusively dedicated to women from the largest law firms and corporate law departments in the United States. Launched in 2011, WILEF’s Gold Standard Certification recognizes firms that meet objective criteria concerning the number of women among equity partners, in firm leadership positions, and in the ranks of their most highly compensated partners.

“K&L Gates has long recognized the importance of retaining and promoting women and of diversity initiatives, and we believe WILEF’s Gold Standard Certification reflects our firm’s and the legal profession’s drive to be a change agent for women to rise within their law firms as business developers and leaders,” said Cindy Ohlenforst, a Dallas tax partner and chair of K&L Gates’ Women in the Profession committee.

In recent years, K&L Gates has received multiple recognitions for its commitment to opportunities for diverse lawyers, including its designation by Yale Law Women, as a “Top Ten Family Friendly Firm,” an “Employer of Choice for Gender Equality” certification by the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency, and a “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” rating from the Human Rights Campaign for eight consecutive years.

Additionally, the firm sponsors or participates in a number of diversity-related programs including the Corporate Counsel Women of Color (CCWC), ABA’s Minority Counsel Program and Commission on Disability Rights, Diversity Council Australia, the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL), the National Bar Association, the National LGBT Bar Association, and Stonewall UK.