Vorys Featured in Crain’s Cleveland Business Article Titled “Law Firm Coalition Hopes to Address Gender Issues in Legal Industry”

Vorys is a part of a coalition of law firms in Northeast Ohio partnering together to tackle issues of gender equity in legal industry.  The coalition was recently featured in a Crain’s Cleveland Business article titled “Law Firm Coalition Hopes to Address Gender Issues in Legal Industry.”  Mallory Monhemius, a practice development manager with the firm and one of the organizers of the coalition, was quoted throughout the article.

The article states:

“Monhemius said a male equity partner at one firm shared his reluctance to take the full amount of parental leave allowed following the arrival of his newborn. He was afraid of how doing so might be perceived by his firm.

This points to a nuanced issue women more often tend to face: the notion that taking time off, even in terms of parental leave, might reflect poorly on someone's work ethic, which could hinder their chances of moving up the corporate ladder. This puts women, who often shoulder more at-home duties, at a possible disadvantage compared to their male colleagues.

The message in the forum was that men and women should equally take their full parental leave permitted.”

The article also states:

“According to Crain's research, among all in-market attorneys in 76 firms included in the 2020 Crain's Law Firms list, 71% are men and 29% are women. Among local partners at those firms, 79% are men and just 21% are women.

‘This is big,’ Monhemius said. ‘People aren't going to hire us if we are not actually fixing these issues in law firms.’”

To read the entire article on the Crain’s Cleveland Business website, click here. (Subscription may be required).