This new book focuses the institutional impediments to women's success in the practice of law--the challenges and roadblocks women face as they struggle to succeed in law firms. The book addresses all aspects of law firm life including firm management, the assignment process, billable hour demands, business generation, compensation, mentoring, attrition, and work/family issues. It also sets forth recommendations for change, describing concrete actions which law firms can implement in order to enable women to take their rightful place as equals in the legal profession. The book is the result of two years of research and is based on the author’s interviews with hundreds of women lawyers and law firm managers from all over the country. The author also draws extensively on a wide range of research across multiple disciplines in order to shed further light on the areas covered. Although the book is about women in law firms, the issues raised could apply to any professional setting.
Lauren Stiller Rikleen is a nationally recognized expert on developing a thriving, diverse and multi-generational workforce. Lauren launched the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership to help businesses and other organizations create a culture where their professionals can advance and flourish. She brings to each engagement nearly three decades of experience, including as a law firm partner, mediator, and professional and community leader.
Lauren is also the Executive-in-Residence at Boston College's Center for Work & Family in the Carroll School of Management. Established in 1990, the Center links academic research and corporate practice to create workplace cultures that support individual and organizational success.
Lauren is frequently requested to appear as a keynote speaker and to lead programs and workshops addressing: strengthening multigenerational teams; women's leadership and advancement; unexamined bias; and related workplace issues.
Lauren is the author of Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women's Success in the Law, published in 2006, which has been highly acclaimed for its thoughtful insights into the management of today's law firms and the institutional impediments to the retention and advancement of women in the legal profession. She is also the author of Success Strategies for Women Lawyers, published in the fall of 2010. She has authored more than 100 articles on a variety of topics within her area of expertise as well as topical commentary, including op ed pieces in major newspapers.
For the past 20 years, Lauren has been selected by her peers to be listed in Best Lawyers in America. She has also been recognized in Chambers USA America's Leading Business Lawyers and Massachusetts Super Lawyers.
Lauren brings an extraordinary background of leadership positions in professional and community organizations to her work at the Rikleen Institute for Strategic Leadership. From August, 2008 until August, 2011, Lauren, served as a member of the governing body of the American Bar Association, the ABA Board of Governors. From 2005-2008, she served as one of twelve members of the ABA's Commission on Women in the Profession, whose mission is to secure full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and the justice system. She currently serves as a chair of the Rights of Women Committee of the ABA's Individual Rights & Responsibilities Section and is a member of the ABA Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. She is also a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, a Trustee of the Boston Bar Foundation, and a Trustee of the Middlesex Savings Bank.
As part of her commitment to the advancement of women in public leadership, Lauren serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus. Lauren is also a founding member of the Council for Women of Boston College which is dedicated to furthering the role of women as active leaders and participants at BC.
Lauren is a former chair and member of the Board of Directors of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, served for ten years on the Board of Trustees of Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, and was the first chair of the Women's Leadership Council of the United Way of Tri-County. She was a founder and served for six years as president of MetroWest Harvest, an organization which transports donated food and personal care items to area shelters and food pantries. She is also one of the founders of an organization which created the first shelter in the MetroWest Boston area for victims of domestic violence.
Lauren is the recipient of numerous awards. In 2011, she received the "Friend of the Division" Award from the Law Student Division of the American Bar Association for her guidance, support, and mentorship. Among her other honors, Lauren was a 2010 Leading Women Award recipient from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, a recipient of the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly 2009 Women of Justice Award, the 2007 Barbara Gray Humanitarian Award from Voices Against Violence, the Boston College 2004 Alumni Award for Excellence in Law, the Boston College Law School 75th Anniversary Alumni Medal, and the 2005 Lelia J. Robinson Award from the Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts. In 1997, the Metrowest Chamber of Commerce named her Business Leader of the Year, and she was the 2001 winner of its Athena Award.
Lauren has written for or been interviewed by such publications and media outlets as: The Harvard Business Review Blog, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times, The National Law Journal, Forbes Woman, the Careerist, WBZ Radio, New England Cable News Network, MSNBC.com, The Boston Business Journal, New York Lawyer, The Glass Hammer, Legal Management, Exchange Morning Post, Women's Health, Monster's Legal Career Center, LawCrossing,the Board Room, Know Magazine, JD Journal, The Detroiter and The Public Record.
Previously, Lauren was an equity partner at Bowditch & Dewey LLP where she founded the firm's environmental practice group and managed a diverse environmental law practice, bringing her strategic and negotiating skills to her clients' enforcement and compliance problems. Lauren is also an experienced mediator.
