Osborne Clarke becomes the first law firm to partner with the European Network for Women in Leadership

Firm joins sponsors Orange, Microsoft, INSEAD, Lenovo

International legal practice Osborne Clarke has become a sponsor of the European Network for Women in Leadership (WIL Europe) with Dutch Partner Herke van Hulst voted on to its board.

WIL Europe is a leading network of women in high-level positions in the private, public and academic fields across 24 European countries. It is a unique platform for senior level women to network and find ideas and opportunities to promote mutual success and greater gender diversity in business. The organisation also runs a first-class development program for emerging leaders called Women Talent Pool (WTP) which provides learning and networking opportunities beyond a participant's established sector and role. WTP helps participants develop leadership skills, identify new career opportunities and gain visibility among senior leaders.

Osborne Clarke in France has supported WIL Europe with pro bono legal work since it was established 10 years ago, as Beatrice Delmas-Linel, Managing Partner of Osborne Clarke in France is one of its founding Board Members. Because of the success of this relationship, and the strong ties that have been forged, Osborne Clarke has now become a firm-wide Silver Sponsor.

The sponsorship enables 20 female partners to participate in WIL Europe's events across the continent. These include country managing partners Béatrice Delmas-Linel from France and Núria Martín from Spain. A further 18 partners are from Osborne Clarke's offices in Belgium, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Osborne Clarke associates also participate in the WTP program.

Partner Herke van Hulst has been voted on to WIL Europe's board to represent Osborne Clarke. Herke is a corporate lawyer specialising in venture capital, private equity, M&A, joint ventures and advises clients on corporate governance and corporate law, in particular in the technology, media & communications and life sciences sectors.

Herke van Hulst commented: "Greater gender diversity in business is important to me and to everybody at Osborne Clarke across our international network. We are supporting WIL Europe because it has a progressive programme of events and initiatives to foster greater cooperation among like-minded companies."

Béatrice Delmas-Linel, Managing Partner France, Osborne Clarke, commented: "Our values of team-work and collaboration align perfectly with the values of WIL and, over the past few years, I have enjoyed introducing the organisation to my Osborne Clarke partners across our different offices. All managing partners on our International Board have been very supportive, so becoming a key sponsor was the logical next step for us. We are all looking forward to an exciting programme of events in 2020 and many more years of collaboration."

Thaima Samman, president and founder of WIL Europe, commented: "After many years of ongoing support, from providing us with legal assistance to hosting several of our international and local events, we are immensely proud to welcome Osborne Clarke as a Silver Partner for the next three years.

"It has always been a great pleasure working with Béatrice Delmas-Linel as board member of WIL Europe, as well as with her colleagues from its other European offices.We look forward to the prospects that will come out of this exciting new partnership."

The WIL Europe board is headed by president Thaima Samman, partner at SAMMAN Law and Corporate Affairs; secretary general Pinuccia Contino, head of the unit 'product safety and rapid alert system' at the European Commission; and 21 other high-level women from across Europe and from a number of professional sectors.

Osborne Clarke is widely recognised as one of Europe's most diverse law firms with a progressive programme of diversity and inclusion initiatives central to its business strategy. It was only the seventh firm to achieve the NES certification, an independent verification across 35 competencies and seven standards for equality, diversity and inclusion excellence.

The full list of Osborne Clarke Partners who are now WIL Europe members is set out below. These can also be found on the WIL Europe directory.