“Historically, traditional intellectual property firms simply have not been a viable platform for women to achieve successful legal careers,” remarked Denise Glassmeyer who has practiced with the firm for over 25 years. “Our firm has always been an exception, but we wanted to do even better. In fact, our goal is to set the standard nationally.” Glassmeyer, who leads the firm’s diversity efforts, said that Young Basile now ranks “among the top among large and mid-sized United States intellectual property firms (30 or more attorneys) in terms of the percentage of equity partners that are women.”
Women partners also hold senior leadership positions in the firm. Francine Nesti serves as one of the firm’s three executive board members. Francine and firm partner Michelle Knight co-chair the firm’s patent practice group. Ms. Nesti credits the firm’s egalitarian and flexible culture with making the firm a good place for women. “The firm understands the demands of having a family, whether you are a man or a woman,” she remarked, “and that certainly helps. But more importantly, women at Young Basile are given important leadership roles, especially in managing key clients.”
“We are proud to be a leader for women in intellectual property and to have so many talented women lawyers in our ranks,” said the firm’s president Andrew Basile. “We have made a concerted effort to ensure that our firm culture supports the retention and advancement of women, and we are seeing the results of those efforts.”
About Young Basile
With offices in Michigan, California, Illinois and Pennsylvania, Young Basile provides a full range of intellectual property and commercial legal services to global and national clients in technology-intensive industries, including software, automotive, electronics and medical devices.
For additional information, please contact Andrew R. Basile at [email protected].
