Top row, left to right: Misty Wilson Borkowski, Mary Galchus Cooper, Amber Wilson Bagley, Missy McJunkins Duke, Carolyn B. Witherspoon. Bottom row, left to right: Laura Dyer Johnson, Donna Smith Galchus, Cynthia W. Kolb Cross
Cross Gunter Witherspoon & Galchus, a Little Rock law firm specializing in labor, employment and civil rights defense, is close to being recognized as a woman-owned business.
Since attorneys Misty Wilson Borkowski and Cynthia Kolb were made directors — essentially partners — earlier this year, the firm has been more than half-owned and operated by women. Businesses that reach that threshold can apply for a Women Business Enterprise certification from the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.
Six of the firm’s 10 directors are women, as is one of four associates and the only paralegal. The support staff is almost entirely female.
After the elevation of Borkowski and Kolb, fellow director Carolyn Witherspoon saw an opportunity that she admits had been in the back of her mind for years.
“We just felt like this was an opportunity that would give us a competitive edge in Arkansas,” Witherspoon said.
More: Purchase the list of the state’s largest law firms.
To be approved, the firm had to send WBENC massive amounts of information, including a history of the business, proof of gender for all employees, financial information, attorney licenses and resumes. Witherspoon said that if the firm wins approval, which could be as late as September, the firm will be placed on a list searchable by the federal government and corporations looking to do business with woman-owned or minority-owned businesses.
But while CGWG will have a considerable amount of personal gain if approved by the WBENC, Witherspoon said it’s more close to home than that, something the firm would have pushed for regardless of the benefits.
“It’s probably just as important to me as it is to the other directors,” Witherspoon said about diversity. “I think encouraging women is a lofty goal and we certainly all do that — men and women in our firm.”
According to a 2015 report from the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, 34 percent the nation’s lawyers are women, a notable increase from the 22 percent figure in 1990.
“Having so many female attorneys in leadership positions, I think — from a mentorship perspective and the advancement of female attorneys — it’s easier to get into a firm that already has successful female directors,” said Rickie Smith, CGWG’s business development manager. “I think it gives [young women] an attainable goal. Here are all these people who have a successful practice, families, community engagements … and they’re able to balance it and then help you do the same thing.”
Managing Director Rick Roderick said he’s proud that CGWG is working toward the certification, which he thinks will enhance the firm’s reputation.
“We like to consider that we’re a full-service firm for the type of work that we do,” Roderick said. “We’ve always practiced diversity, and being in a labor and employment field primarily … obviously an important feature of that is a belief in diversity, a belief in treating employees the right way, managing employees the right way, and respecting all races and kinds of people.”
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