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Career Development

Our approach to cultivating the careers of our lawyers, including our women lawyers, is simple, yet remarkably effective. We begin by recruiting the very best of the best from the pool of talented law school graduates.

The Women’s Initiative, open to all lawyers at the Firm, complements the wide array of professional development and connectivity programming that the Firm offers to all lawyers across our global offices. We provide the tools needed to succeed: hands-on training, one-on-one mentoring, an extensive and formal professional development curriculum, networking opportunities, open-door policies that encourage access to partners and senior lawyers and—most importantly—varied and challenging work assignments that expose lawyers to different partners and unique legal problems across a wide range of clients and industries.

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“One of the key contributors to the success of our lawyers is mentorship. As a partner, my door is open for associates who have questions about the litigation practice or broader career-related matters.”

– Sara Razi, Washington, D.C. Litigation Partner,
Global Co-Chair of the Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice

The development of our lawyers, including women lawyers, remains one of the Firm’s most important priorities. Some examples of the efforts of the Women’s Initiative include:

  • An annual third-year Women’s Leadership Conference. The Conference is an opportunity to hear directly from Firm leadership, participate in a facilitated executive leadership workshop and connect across offices. Following the Conference, attendees are then invited to apply for the Women’s Leadership Cohort Program, which is a year-long leadership development initiative for fourth-year associates.
  • Monthly Partner Office Hours that offer associates in each of our offices the opportunity to meet with partners to discuss topics of interest. This initiative fosters mentoring and provides an informal setting to address career-related questions.
  • A virtual Connections discussion group that invites lawyers across global offices to share their thoughts on a podcast, article or book. For example, one meeting featured a Harvard Business Review podcast exploring women’s leadership.

In 2006, Simpson Thacher formally established the partner-level Women’s Committee to monitor the progress of the Firm’s women lawyers and address any barriers to advancement. To ensure we take into account the full range of ideas and perspectives of our associates and counsel, the Firm’s Women’s Committee works very closely with the Women’s Advisory Council, which is comprised of counsel and associates from a variety of practices and offices. Together, the Women’s Committee and the Women’s Advisory Council provide strategic direction to our efforts throughout the Firm.

Each year, the number of women in the Firm’s partnership and counsel ranks continues to grow. Not only are Simpson Thacher’s women lawyers advancing within the profession, but they are also making tremendous strides within the Firm’s leadership and management.

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