CHICAGO – Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP’s Women’s Leadership Forum, in conjunction with the Chicago Bar Association’s Alliance for Women, will present a luncheon, presentation and book signing by attorney Lauren Stiller Rikleen, author of the newly released book, Ending the Gauntlet: Removing Barriers to Women’s Success in the Law, on Thursday, March 9.

“We are proud to partner with the Chicago Bar Association to present this event,” said Nicole Nehama Auerbach, a Katten Muchin Rosenman partner and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Women’s Leadership Forum. “The issues about the advancement of women that Ms. Rikleen addresses in her book are ones that are, or should be, on the minds of all law firms and corporations today. As a Firm, we welcome the opportunity to provide a forum for these types of important discussions – today and in the future.”

A former president of the Boston Bar Association, Ms. Rikleen is a senior partner with Massachusetts-based Bowditch & Dewey LLP. Her new book focuses on the institutional impediments to women's success in law firms and is the result of two years of extensive research and more than 100 interviews with women and law firm managers all over the country. Ms. Rikleen’s book includes excerpts from the interviews to illustrate each of the issues raised through their stories. Issues addressed include, law firm assignments, management, compensation, billable hours, mentoring, business development and reduced-hours. The book also focuses heavily on issues unique to women and proposes solutions to each.

As an attorney, Ms. Rikleen has a diverse environmental law practice emphasizing negotiation, enforcement and compliance issues. She is also an experienced mediator. Ms. Rikleen is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers – two publications which recognize attorneys who are chosen for excellence in their field. She received the prestigious Boston College Law School Alumni Award for Excellence in Law in 2004 and in the fall of 2005 was honored by the Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts with its coveted Lelia J. Robinson Award, so named after the first practicing woman attorney in the state.

The Women’s Leadership Forum of Katten Muchin Rosenman was established to further the Firm's commitment to the development, retention and advancement of women and to provide a forum for its women attorneys to discuss issues and share information. A driving force for its creation was the recognition that as a national law Firm Katten Muchin Rosenman has significant wisdom, experience and vision, which, when collected and shared internally and externally, can empower women at all levels in their careers to achieve success and satisfaction.