Squire Patton Boggs hires attorneys as part of the Diversity Lab's OnRamp Fellowship Program

Squire Patton Boggs hires attorneys as part of the Diversity Lab's OnRamp Fellowship Program

The move is designed to help 200 women lawyers return to the profession by 2025

Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) has hired Ayana Partee and Chrystie Swiney as part of the Diversity Lab's OnRamp 200 Fellowship initiative. It is to restart the careers of women lawyers who took extended breaks from their occupation.

Partee and Swiney have joined the firm's public and infrastructure finance practice in New York and Washington DC, respectively.

The program was launched to help women who were finding it challenging to get hired due to gaps in their career history.

SPB was one of the nearly 35 firms and legal departments that signed up for the OnRamp initiative last year. It provides a one-year paid fellowship to the returning lawyers.

According to an American Bar Association study published last year, more than a third of women (37 percent) said they were considering quitting the legal profession during the pandemic. Whereas another 35 percent wanted to work part-time to look after young children.

Michele Connell, the global managing partner, who spearheaded the SPB's involvement with the OnRamp program, said, "Re-engaging talented women practitioners who have taken time away from the profession is an important way to increase representation across the legal industry. It aligns with our firm's long-standing commitment to diversity and inclusion."

Bob Labes, the group leader of the public and infrastructure finance practice group, said, "Partee and Swiney are experienced attorneys with tremendous capability. Their expertise and life experiences cross multiple sectors and add depth to the level of expertise provided to our diverse client base."

Partee is an expert in public offerings, public/private partnerships, and infrastructure projects, including transportation, airports and water, sewer, and electrical systems. She was earlier an associate at Denver-based law firm Bookhardt & O'Toole. In 2010, she started her own independent firm.

Swiney has spent much of her legal career in the NGO sector. She began as a legal adviser at the Department of State, working at the US Embassy in Baghdad, helping develop Iraqi legislation on a range of issues, including non-profit law.

She was also a legal adviser at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the Constitution Project, and recently, the Global Health Advocacy Incubator.