Hartford Business Journal

10 Hartford Business Journal • June 25, 2018 • www.HartfordBusiness.com FOCUS: Women in Business Murtha Cullina's diversity push woos top women lawyers Q&A talks with Jennifer M. Del- Monico, managing partner of Hartford-based Murtha Cullina, about the law firm's strategy for recruiting and grooming women lawyers. Q. Murtha Cullina was recently named a "Best Law Firm for Female Attorneys" by Law360, a national publication. Can you talk about some steps the firm has taken to promote women within the organization? A. We realized early on that to attract and retain the best legal talent for our clients, we needed to be more flexible than the traditional legal model. Our attorneys still must take care of our clients' needs, but if they need to reduce their overall workload, work from home or work unconven- tional hours, we help them make it work. Many women join our firm because of the flexibility we offer, even though most continue to work full time. It is a comfort simply to know that they have options, and that the firm will support them if their needs change. We also make sure all of our attor- neys have opportunities to develop their skills by working with mentors. Q. What is the competitive landscape right now in terms of attracting top female lawyers, especially to Hartford and/or New Haven? Are there any benefits the firm offers that are spe- cifically geared toward attracting and retaining women employees/lawyers? A. In addition to the flexible work en- vironment, the major benefit of joining our firm is that we have an established culture that supports women and helps them achieve even greater professional success. At Murtha, women do not need to spend time breaking the mold, working for change or fighting for fair treatment. Instead, they can focus on Jennifer M. DelMonico Managing Partner, Murtha Cullina By Matthew Broderick Special to the Hartford Business Journal B y several key mea- sures, women have made great strides in the workforce over the past 40 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the proportion of women with college degrees has more than tripled since the 1970s; labor force par- ticipation grew steadily, peaking at a rate of 60 percent in 1999; and women's earnings as a percentage of men's earn- ings rose from 62 cents on the dollar in 1979 to 81 cents nationally by 2015. But the gender pay gap — the rela- tive difference in the average earnings of women and men in the economy as a whole — remains a persistent reality. And a growing number of cit- ies and states, including Connecticut, have passed legislation designed to help level the playing field. The state's new pay-equity law, which was passed by the legislature in April and takes effect Jan. 1, 2019, bars employers from asking — or directing a third party to ask — about a pro- spective employee's wage and salary history. The rationale is that salary history bans, which have become law in California, Delaware, Massachusetts and Oregon, prevent women from be- ing paid based on their previous job's already inequitable salary. But not everyone is convinced the new law will be helpful. Recent research by PayScale, a Seattle- based compensation data and software company, found that when a woman failed to disclose her salary history — when asked — she was paid 1.8 percent less on average than a woman who did disclose when asked, while a man who refused to disclose his salary history is paid on average 1.2 percent more. Leveling The Playing Field New pay-equity law aims to close CT's gender wage gap In May, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy signed into law legislation that prohibits employers from asking about a prospective employee's wage and salary history during the job interview process. PHOTO | CONTRIBUTED

• Cover