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At the Women in Business Law 2024 EMEA Awards held in London, Hedman Law Firm received the coveted “Baltics Firm of the Year Award.” This jurisdictional award is presented to firms that exemplify and advance policies promoting women in the legal industry.
We are extremely proud to share with you the initiatives that led to winning this award!
By cultivating a supportive and balanced work environment, we empower our team to perform at their best, ensuring that our clients receive top-tier legal representation.
Furthermore, our dedication to professional development ensures that our lawyers are skilled and continually advancing, allowing us to provide clients with the most current and effective legal strategies.
This award reflects our unwavering commitment to these values, the same values that drive us to deliver justice and equality in every case we handle.
History of the Women in Business Law Awards
The awards were established in 2011 to recognize and honor the exceptional contributions of women in law. They highlight individual excellence and innovative firm initiatives promoting gender diversity and inclusion.
There are several categories designed to acknowledge the diverse talents and accomplishments within the legal field:
Rising Stars: Recognizes the growing pool of talented young women in law who are making significant impacts early in their careers.
Best in Practice: Celebrates the outstanding women practitioners who have achieved excellence in their specific areas of legal practice.
Jurisdictional Awards: The country and regional awards honor law firms that turn their policies and commitments into real actions supporting women in the legal industry.The Firm of the Year: This award recognizes initiatives that support women in achieving equity within a traditionally male-dominated industry. For example, the Gender Diversity National Firm of the Year award and the Work-Life Balance International Firm of the Year award.
Selection Process
Law firms and in-house legal teams are invited to submit nominations providing information about women-friendly policies, practices, and biographies of their leading female lawyers. A dedicated research team reviews these nominations and conducts interviews with top professionals in various legal fields and regions.
Winners are chosen based on their ability to support women’s development in the legal profession and offer work-life balance programs that help women advance in their careers. Key criteria include the ratio of female-to-male lawyers at all levels, the retention of women associates to partner level, and the implementation of diversity initiatives.
Impact of the Women In Business Law Awards
The Women in Business Law EMEA Awards highlight and celebrate the vital role women play in the legal industry. By recognizing both individual achievements and firm-wide initiatives, the awards promote a culture of diversity, inclusion, and excellence, encouraging continued progress in gender equality within the legal profession.
Hedman’s Work-Life Balance Initiatives
Key components of Hedman’s work-life balance initiative include flexible working arrangements, wellness services, enhanced maternity leave policies and parent support groups.
Flexible working arrangements are at the heart of our initiative, allowing our team members to adjust their work schedules to accommodate personal commitments. This flexibility includes options for telecommuting, part-time schedules, and adjusted work hours. In the last year, we saw an increase in the number of staff taking advantage of these opportunities to lead a more balanced life.
Our maternity leave policy goes beyond the statutory requirements, offering extended leave periods with benefits and other flexible arrangements. This ensures that new parents can spend precious time with their newborns without worry. Upon return, parents can work reduced hours while maintaining their full-time status, easing the transition back into the workforce.
In the fast-paced, high-pressure environment of legal practice, especially one that is startup-focused like ours, ensuring our team members have the necessary support to manage their personal lives effectively is critical for maintaining a happy, healthy, and productive workforce. This, in turn, benefits Hedman’s clients by ensuring they receive the highest-quality service from a motivated, focused, and well-supported team.
Hedman’s Career Development Initiatives
Hedman’s comprehensive career development program is designed to support our lawyers from entry to partners and beyond.
Central to our program is a strong mentoring system where experienced attorneys guide younger lawyers and trainees through the intricacies of legal practice, sharing insights and advice from their years of experience.
Additionally, our program emphasizes growth opportunities by involving our lawyers in major deals, delegating key assignments, and recommending them for high-profile opportunities such as speaking at prominent conferences in Estonia and the surrounding regions. This approach ensures our lawyers gain valuable experience and exposure, helping them to advance in their careers.
This holistic approach means that our clients receive not only exceptional service but also the confidence of knowing they are supported by a team that is motivated, dynamic, and fully prepared to meet any challenge.
