Women's Initiative

At Vinson & Elkins, our success depends on the success of our people.  Critical to this success are the women lawyers at V&E, who bring not only a broad range of skills, talents, and experiences but also unique insights and perspectives to their roles. With this in mind, V&E has committed to creating a work environment that is conducive to attracting and retaining the best and brightest women lawyers by launching a formal Women’s Initiative. This firm-wide program addresses many of the short and long term challenges women face as they pursue their legal careers and helps empower them to contribute to their fullest potential—on the job, at home, and in the community.

In October 2000, Vinson & Elkins became the first law firm in the country to take a long-term, comprehensive approach to women’s issues and formed the Women’s Career Development Council.  This group of lawyers—male and female, partners and associates throughout the firm—was formed to develop and propose programs and policies aimed at enhancing recruitment, retention, and advancement of women lawyers. To provide a broader perspective and guidance on best practices from other industries, the firm also formed an Advisory Board composed of leaders from the business community, government, and major nonprofit organizations interested in encouraging the career development and retention of women professionals.

V&E's action plan for a comprehensive, results-oriented Women’s Initiative focuses primarily on four areas: flexibility, career development, management/mentoring, and recruitment.

• In January 1996, V&E implemented a policy creating a flexible work structure that allows partners and associates a variety of career paths, by reducing their work hours or changing their work schedules while maintaining challenging, productive careers and equal opportunities for professional growth, experience, and career advancement.  In 2002, V&E formed a Flexible Work Arrangement Committee comprised of partners across the firm to provide fair and consistent evaluations of individuals requesting flexible work arrangements. 
• The firm also strengthened the career development process to make the systems that allocate opportunity within the firm more intentional and transparent. In 2003, the firm adopted core competencies to guide training, evaluations, and work allocation. The firm also began implementing mentoring programs that will guide associates at all levels of development. Recognizing the critical role women can play in attracting new clients to the firm, the Council initiated various forums to assist our lawyers in building strategic relationships. In addition, the position of Director of Attorney Development, held by a partner, was created to support the design and execution of the programs and policies.
• V&E developed a greater focus on excellence in management as a leadership behavior and is working toward greater gender diversity in leadership positions. V&E seeks to foster “people management” and mentoring as leadership behaviors by providing training and developing more accountability for effective management, such as reporting to the firm’s Management Committee on talent management.
• The firm is increasing the recruitment of women attorneys at all levels to increase the number of women in the pipeline to partnership. To increase recruitment of women for entry-level positions, V&E is creating a stronger women’s presence on campus through such activities as inviting on-campus women’s organizations at law schools to recruitment events to showcase its Women’s Initiative.  Further, V&E is promoting gender diversity goals in lateral hiring as well, including requiring legal search firms to provide a diverse slate of candidates.

Our firm has made great strides in creating a positive work environment for the women at Vinson & Elkins, but that’s just the beginning. We’ll continue our efforts to create a more inclusive and flexible culture, expand career advancement opportunities for women, and help them balance their personal and career demands. By helping ensure their success, we’ll help ensure success for our clients and make Vinson & Elkins the employer of choice for talented women in the legal profession.