From Take the Lead authored by Michele Weldon:
“What’s fair is fair.
Christina Vander Werf, a partner with Gordon & Rees LLP, who works out of the San Diego, Los Angeles and Phoenix offices, says at her law firm, gender equity is a top priority.
“There is a very intentional effort to make the office more diverse and bring more women in,” says Vander Werf, the single mother of an almost five-year-old daughter. “I have a lot of flexibility, am on reduced time at 90 percent, and there is a lot of support for parents here.”
A partner at the firm since November 2017, after practicing at two other firms since graduating from University of Arizona law school in 2010, Vander Werf says she began at Gordon & Rees four years ago as an associate and moved up to partner.
Several efforts to ensure gender equity are in place at the firm, she says. For instance, the firm reimburses the cost of MilkStork, a service that ships breast milk home for traveling nursing mothers. The firm also has a Women’s Initiative with events, support programs and policies that help working mothers, parents and all women employees.”
