To highlight the firm’s commitment to empowering women with key leadership roles, Chicago Lawyer magazine featured Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C. in its annual Women in Law publication. The following is an excerpt from the article on name partner Karen K. MacKay and Class Action Defense Group Chair LeAnn Pedersen Pope.

Some of the partners who founded the firm in 1992 had practiced together since the early 1970s. At the time, women’s names almost never appeared on the doors of large or midsized firms. “When we put the firm together,” says Karen K. MacKay, “we were not trying to prove anything by including a woman’s name in the firm name. We focused on building a quality firm to serve our clients. It didn’t occur to us that putting my name on the door was groundbreaking or even unusual. We had good professional relationships and wanted to work together.” 

MacKay helped create the new firm’s business model as well as run the firm’s Wealth and Succession Planning practice. As a veteran of a major Chicago firm, respected nationally for its estate planning and tax practices, she was well versed in the complex needs of wealthy individuals and families.

MacKay’s group has grown to become one of the most prestigious wealth management practices in the Midwest. The firm now counts as clients several notables on Forbes Magazine’s list of the 400 richest Americans and represents individuals, families and fiduciaries in all phases of estate planning, trust administration, charitable giving, succession planning, ownership transition, trust and estate litigation and risk management. In 2004, MacKay was recognized for her work as Chicago’s leading estate planning practitioner by receiving the Chicago Estate Planning Council’s highest honor, the Austin Fleming Distinguished Service Award.

LeAnn Pedersen Pope was also one of the original partners when the firm began in 1992. As chair of the firm’s Consumer Financial Services Class Action Defense Group, Pope oversees a national class action and multi-district litigation practice group representing financial institutions nationwide. Pope’s class action defense practice grew out of a business litigation practice just as the proliferation of class action litigation against the mortgage banking industry was beginning. That was almost 20 years ago. From a handful of class action cases, Pope built a practice that has grown to become the firm’s largest.

Over the years, Pope’s group has successfully defended several of the nation’s largest banks and mortgage banking companies in over 100 class action cases filed in federal and state courts throughout the country. 

The firm’s cultural openness to empowering women with leadership roles in key practice groups encouraged Pope to reach for more than gender diversity within the firm. She founded the firm’s diversity committee in 2006, and spearheaded the firm’s active participation in the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) “Call to Action” initiatives to promote diversity within the firm’s attorney ranks and to increase the number of women in leadership positions.

“In my view, diversity at the firm improves the quality of our legal work and helps us bring a broader perspective to the problems our clients face,” says Pope. “Our diversity efforts and CBA commitments were a natural fit here. These moved us in a very positive direction.”

Even with the heavy demands of legal careers, many BWM&S female professionals are also the primary child care providers at home, balancing family needs and career obligations. “A little flexibility goes a long way with women attorneys,” says Pope. “Being willing to make scheduling adjustments has allowed us to keep and attract excellent talent. It makes good business sense because we are able to retain the benefit of our investment in people and also offer clients the continuity they want.”

For the full article, please click here or visit http://www.burkelaw.com or http://www.chicagolawyermagazine.com and click on “Women in Law 2009.” The article is on pages 10 and 11.

Karen K. MacKay may be contacted at 312/840-7009 or kmackay@burkelaw.com. LeAnn Pedersen Pope may be contacted at 312/840-7013 or lpope@burkelaw.com.