Diversity + Inclusion
We are committed to fostering diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in our firm and across our profession.
We believe that diversity enhances our performance and provides us with a rich and rewarding workplace. Our goal is to create a law firm culture that reflects the increasing diversity of the clients and communities we serve. We are proud of our deep roots in some of America’s most diverse cities, and we honor the broad range of backgrounds and perspectives that form the fabric of our firm. We celebrate our employees’ differences across race, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation, and we strive to treat our lawyers and staff fairly.
We are committed to attracting, recruiting, mentoring, and promoting diverse attorneys and staff through involvement in organizations and programs that foster change. These include the ABA’s Council on Racial and Ethnic Justice and Women in Profession, the Task Force on Diversity in the Profession, the Association of Women Attorneys, minority job fairs, and diversity clerkship programs, as well as our own Diversity 1L Scholars Program, Diversity Committee, Women’s Initiative Network, African American Affinity Group, Asian Affinity Group, Hispanic Affinity Group, and LGBTQ Affinity Group.
Our leadership sets the tone for creating and sustaining a diverse workplace.
48% of our attorneys are diverse
36% of our Policy Committee members are diverse
31% of our Members (partners) are diverse
100% of the members promoted in 2020 were diverse.
The firm’s Diversity Committee, comprised of partners and associates across our footprint, oversees our efforts to recruit and retain diverse lawyers and professional staff and create an inclusive environment enabling all of our employees to succeed. The Committee holds monthly firm-wide meetings that are open to all lawyers for discussion of diverse topics and issues. The Committee also works closely with our Recruitment and Associate committees to enhance both the recruitment and retention of diverse lawyers.
Our attorneys dedicate their time and talents to improving diversity outcomes in the legal profession, serving in leadership roles within diversity-related organizations. For example, our firm is involved with the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society, which is named in honor of Louis A. Martinet, an African-American lawyer who was a key figure during the civil rights efforts surrounding the end of Reconstruction. The Martinet Society began during the midst of the civil rights struggle with the objectives of encouraging the interchange of ideas, promoting legal scholarship, and the administration of justice.
We were a proud sponsor of the study underlying the provocative, landmark treatise, “Visible Invisibility: Women of Color in Law Firms,” published by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.
