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NYLJ.COM | Partnership | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014 | S5

Promotions

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Continued from page 3
Leticia Ossa-Daza. Gartner, Willkie’s co-chair,
said while diversity is considered during part-
nership discussions, it is not dispositive of
the analysis.
Ossa-Daza grew up in Colombia, joined
Willkie in Paris and came to the New York
office in 2006.
“I was made partner because I am a

smart and skilled lawyer,” she said. “Asso- is pleased to announce that
ciates are made partner because they are
smart lawyers not just because of other
demographic characteristics.” She said the
qualities that led to her promotion were
teamwork, client responsiveness and hard
work, which doesn’t necessarily mean work- B L. B
ing every weekend.
RIANANK
L & A
“You need to find the right balance and you ITIGATIONPPEALS
need to love what you do,” said Ossa-Daza, a
mother to a six-year-old daughter.
At Quinn Emanuel, Calamari said candi-
dates’ demographics are not considered. “We MATTHEW V. SPERO
are very talent oriented,” he said.
Lilienfeld at Shearman also said gender is CORPORATE & COMMERCIAL
not considered. The firm evaluates internal
performance reviews, feedback from clients

and, increasingly, business development and have been elected Partners
client retention skills, she said.
“It’s a level playing field, whether you’re
a woman, man or ethnic minority," she said.
Two of Shearman’s seven new partners,
about 28 percent, are women this year. She
said it’s “a fantastic statistic” compared to
about 20 years ago when she started practic-
ing law. “There’s always room for improve-

ment both in the profession and at any
particular law firm. It starts with a culture
of inclusion and I think firms including our
firm, are more focused on this issue than ever
before,” Lilienfeld said.
Lilienfeld said women in-house counsel are
increasingly making purchase decisions on 555 Madison Avenue 926 RXR Plaza 21 Main Street, Court Plaza South
law firm spend. “It’s hard to pitch to a general 26th Floor Uniondale, New York 11556
West Wing, Suite 158

counsel, who is a woman, with a team of only New York, New York 10022 516.357.3000 Hackensack, New Jersey 07901
men,” she said.
212.455.9555
201.287.2460

Firmwide

Total new partner classes at 13 firms January 2014
increased last year, some returning to 2011
levels or near them.
The number of new partners firmwide at all www.rivkinradler.com

24 firms totaled about 307, almost even from
the number in 2012. In 2011 they promoted
348 firm-wide.
White & Case, which spiked to 28 partner
promotions in 2012, dropped to 18 in 2013,
near its 2011 new partner levels. Jones Day
promoted 34 to partner, 11 fewer than the
previous two years.
At Sidley Austin, new partner classes firm- Turn your good press into great marketing!

wide dropped to 24 in 2013 from 26 in 2012 Order your reprints as published in the New York Law Journal today. Contact 347-227-3176 or [email protected].
and 33 in 2011. Sidley executive committee Reprints are designed in collaboration with you. Reprints are available for rankings, individual verdicts, compilations, and more. Our full suite of products are powerful and versatile to meet your
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said the number of promotions is not a direct
result of the market. “We take a longer view,”
Bierman said.
“It’s not really ‘times are good, so we’re Pr
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going to make tons of partners.’ We look at Hard Copy
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each individual and how they’re going to inte- E-Prints
grate into the office” and the firm’s culture,
Gandhi said.
Plaques
@
|Christine Simmons can be contacted at
[email protected] and on Twitter @ chlsimmons.
www.almreprints.com