Diversity & Inclusion

Our diversity and inclusion efforts focus on three goals:

Promoting the Value of Diversity Through Client and Community Engagement.

Our commitment to diversity and inclusion isn’t just an in-house affair. We believe we have a responsibility to champion the value of diversity and advance diversity strategies through our interactions with our clients and communities. We work collaboratively and creatively with clients to develop customized diversity plans. We also organize, sponsor and participate in diversity programs with our clients and in our communities including:

• Partnering with Fifth Third Bank’s Diversity Board in Cincinnati on a diversity leadership symposium
• Presenting at client-sponsored programs focused on topics such as “Embarking on a Diversity & Inclusion Initiative” and “Advancing and Retaining Minorities and Women”
• Supporting the Stonewell Bar Association for LGBT lawyers in Atlanta
• Supporting the New York City Bar Association’s Annual Diversity Champion award
• Partnering with the Cleveland Commission on Economic Inclusion on training programs for executives on implementing diversity strategies
• Sponsoring the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio’s “Walk, Rock and Run” event, a celebration of diversity

Supporting the Retention and Advancement of a Diverse Workforce Through an Inclusive Culture, Mentoring and Professional Development.

We believe that retaining and advancing a diverse workforce is a key driver of future firm success. We know that an essential element of retention is creating a culture where everyone feels comfortable, valued and respected. To encourage the retention and advancement of our diverse lawyers and staff, we take steps to foster an inclusive culture including:

• Providing health care benefits equally to our employees, lawyers, their families and domestic partners
• Accommodating alternative and flexible work schedules
• Supporting activities that highlight the diverse cultures represented in our workforce, such as developing a cultural heritage cookbook
• We also recognize that we must provide meaningful mentoring and professional development opportunities to enable our diverse workforce to advance and thrive. These include:
• Providing our women lawyers with networking and professional development opportunities through our firmwide Spotlight on Women® initiative
• Sponsoring affinity groups for women and minority lawyers
• Organizing, staffing and supporting a firmwide Minority Associate Advisor Program, which pairs our junior minority lawyers with more senior lawyers for mentoring and career coaching

Enhancing Diversity Within the Firm and Legal Profession by Championing Pipeline Initiatives.

We are committed to attracting the best and most diverse workforce possible. We understand, however, that we can not “go it alone.” The success of our own efforts is inexorably linked to the diversity of the legal profession in general. Therefore, we embrace our responsibility to be a part of the broader solution by creating and championing initiatives that fuel the pipeline of diversity into the legal profession, including:

• Participating in the Ohio Supreme Court’s Law and Leadership Institute, which provides minority high school students year-long instruction followed by an internship at our firm
• Employing minority first-year law students as summer law clerks through minority clerkship programs with several bar associations
• Advising minority and disadvantaged students on legal career options through the Upward Bound program at several universities
• Partnering with several urban high schools and universities to provide employment and training to students who aspire to legal careers