Advancing Women Post-#MeToo

A few months ago in a law office in Manhattan, a male partner faced a dilemma: He was nervous about taking a female associate to a client dinner because there would be alcohol and it would end late. So he took a male associate instead.

The scenario wasn’t real, but it could have been. Actors depicted it during an exclusive leadership training program at Dechert LLP. The goal: to highlight the confusion surrounding appropriate workplace behavior, which the #MeToo movement has thrust into the spotlight.

“This type of thing is hugely detrimental to female associates and younger female partners,” says Hector Gonzalez, partner and chair of Dechert’s global litigation practice. “Success at a big law firm is not exclusively based on someone’s skills as a lawyer, but also on the ability to interact with and gain