[ Diversity Committee 2006 Annual Report ]
Duane Morris LLP, a national firm of more than 600 lawyers, has a vibrant diversity program, nearly a decade old, that reflects the firm's commitment to inclusion and has resulted in a dramatic increase in diverse and women attorneys. In 2001, Duane Morris had 39 diverse partners and associates. In 2005, Duane Morris' Executive Committee adopted a Strategic Initiative, which charged practice group leaders and recruitment staff to identify and hire outstanding diverse candidates from law schools, clerkships and law practices, and increase the firm's diversity. Today, our diversity numbers have grown more than 50 percent to 59 diverse attorneys. An important component of the Duane Morris Business Plan is the understanding that significant diversity among our attorneys is essential to meeting our clients' needs as well as the firm's responsibilities to the legal profession and the broader communities we serve. Diversity is a core value at Duane Morris.
Recruitment, Retention, Mentoring and Promotion
In January 2005, the firm adopted and publicly announced a minimum firmwide goal of 10 percent attorney diversity. At the time, Duane Morris had roughly 7 percent diversity among all attorneys. Today, Duane Morris is within a fraction of a percentage point of its 10 percent goal and projects achieving and surpassing this goal by the end of 2006. To do so, and to continue building diversity at Duane Morris, we have undertaken the following programs:
- The Duane Morris Diversity Committee has significant responsibilities for growing the number of diverse attorneys within the firm. Through the recruitment of students in the summer program and the aggressive pursuit of the best and brightest lawyers looking to make a lateral change, the Committee is focused on bringing the finest diverse candidates to Duane Morris. Equally important is the Committee's focus on retention - making sure that once hired, every diverse attorney remains a part of the firm and is integral to its future growth. Our efforts at improving the recruitment of diverse attorneys were noted by the "2005 Vault/MCCA Guide to Law Firm Diversity Programs," which singled out Duane Morris for being one of "only a handful of firms that engage minority- and/or women-owned search firms for lateral recruitment." Other aspects of our recruitment and retention efforts include:
- Diversity Committee members, including the Director of Legal Recruitment, and the Chair of the firm's Recruitment and Retention Committee work together to develop recruitment strategies and lists of diverse candidates.
- One or more members of the Diversity Committee participate in interviews with all diverse lateral candidates.
- A Diversity Committee member has a permanent seat on the Recruitment and Retention Committee, whose membership is diverse and nearly half female.
- The firm participates in the Vault Diversity Job Fair and has been a major sponsor at the Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Job Fair Program, sending attorney interviewers to each conference. The firm also recruits at minority job fairs and interviews at historically black law schools. At firmwide meetings, the Diversity Committee gives focused presentations stressing that "diversity" is the responsibility of all partners. Our creed is, "At Duane Morris diversity is our business obligation, but we also understand it is what is right."
- Our Summer Associate Program is one of the most visible recruitment methods for attracting the best talent to the firm. Women represented 50 percent of the Summer Program 2006 class, and students of diverse background composed more than 20 percent of the class.
- Practice group leaders and the Chair of the Diversity Committee meet frequently to share business and staffing needs, particularly in recruitment, so that the Director of Legal Recruitment and others can seek candidates for the practice group most in need of new hires. Through these meetings, we are frequently able to match the firm's business needs with diverse candidates.
- The Duane Morris Diversity Update is published throughout the year. Clients and other visitors to the firm receive this "reader-friendly" information on our diversity programs and the activities of our diverse attorneys. This newsletter is designed to provide attorney applicants (whether students or lateral candidates) as well as current and prospective clients with an overview of our diversity programs.
- Duane Morris is a founding member of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, a consortium of major area law firms and corporations. Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., Chair of Duane Morris' Diversity Committee, is the Chair of the PDLG, which has grown from 12 to 26 member firms. PDLG identifies students from Philadelphia-area law schools as well as Howard, Widener and Dickinson law schools, and matches them with paid full-time law clerk positions at PDLG member law firms and corporations. PDLG students have been overwhelmingly successful at their firms and in ensuing years. In September 2006, Duane Morris added to its associate ranks two diverse students from the PDLG program, one from Howard and the other from Villanova. Duane Morris makes substantial financial commitments to PDLG through premier sponsorship of events, including a Retention Conference in 2005 that leading members of PDLG's participating law firms and companies attended to discuss strategies for ensuring diverse attorney retention.
- Duane Morris mentors and monitors the progress of its diverse attorneys to maximize retention. Once hired, diverse attorneys are provided with every opportunity to grow and advance through the ranks with their non-diverse counterparts. To achieve this goal, Diversity Committee members function both as advocates and mentors. They review hours billed and promote quality work assignments, as well as periodically discuss the associates' performance with office heads and practice group leaders. The "2005 Vault/MCCA Guide to Law Firm Diversity Programs" praised Duane Morris for these efforts to mentor, monitor and retain its diverse lawyers. Diversity Committee members also have the discretionary authority to take interventional steps to assist a diverse associate in achieving success within the firm. By being enlightened and informed, the Diversity Committee is able to best represent and champion the interests of diverse lawyers at the firm.
- The firm's practice of inclusion has resulted in women and diverse lawyers assuming key leadership and management positions. For example, Sheila Hollis, our Washington, D.C., office head, is a member of the firm's five-member Executive Committee. The firm's second-highest governing body, the Partners Board, includes two diverse attorneys, Joseph Burton and Ray Wong, and six female partners: Mikel Bistrow, Teresa Cavenagh, Sheila Hollis, Susan Laws, Margery Reed and Kathleen Shay. Joseph Burton is also the managing partner of the San Francisco office.
- Duane Morris' diverse attorneys are recognized for their legal excellence. Joe Burton was named California's Lawyer of the Year for his work in a landmark case involving the first criminal prosecution of a software company under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago honored Cheryl Blackwell Bryson for her achievements as a professional woman. The Law Bulletin Publishing Company named Neville Bilimoria one of the 2005 "40 Illinois Attorneys Under Forty to Watch." Denyse Sabagh, Chair of the firm's Immigration Practice Group from the Washington, D.C., office, was listed in the 2005-2006 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., received the Honorable William F. Hall Award from the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia.
- Duane Morris is an active sponsor and supporter of the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. Lauded as a national prototype, the Committee presents independent programming as well as programming in cooperation with various national, state, city and minority bar organizations, and law schools to assist its member law firms in developing strategies to identify, recruit, hire and retain diverse attorneys, and promote them to partnership.
Diversity Practices and Business Opportunities
The best method for growing the firm's diversity commitment is by linking it to overall business planning. The Diversity Committee, including the Chief Marketing Officer, meets regularly with Duane Morris' leadership to develop an annual strategic plan for the firm's sponsorship of diversity-related events. A representative of the firm's Marketing & Business Development Department attends monthly and special Diversity Committee meetings. The two groups ensure that Duane Morris' participation in diversity events has the full support of the firm's business development and creative teams. Duane Morris attorneys attend diversity events throughout the year. Duane Morris was a major sponsor and event planner at the 2006 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association's national convention in Philadelphia, where Duane Morris hosted a reception for all NAPABA members. Duane Morris is also a sponsor of Hispanic National Bar Association conventions and regularly participates in the Minority Corporate Counsel Association dinners. In March 2005, Duane Morris sent 17 attorneys and professional staff to the MCCA CLE Program in Chicago as part of its commitment to MCCA. At these and other events, the Marketing & Business Development staff works closely with attending attorneys to identify and pursue new opportunities and further develop the many relationships created and strengthened through our involvement in these events. By combining our diversity commitment with our business plan, Duane Morris has a strong presence at the most prominent regional and national diversity events and also meets the firm's business goals.
Collaboration with Community and Bar Associations
The firm is an active participant in all of the national bar associations of diverse attorneys, and many of those activities are identified above. Partner Jane Dalton is the Vice Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association and, in January 2007, becomes that association's Chancellor.
Sarah Bricknell, partner and Assistant General Counsel of Duane Morris, serves as Chair of the Professional Guidance Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Marco Gonzalez, Jr., a partner and Diversity Committee member, is a past president of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey.
Duane Morris created the position of Pro Bono Counsel in 2005, which is staffed by a full-time Duane Morris attorney, Nicole Friant. The Pro Bono Counsel works with the firm's Pro Bono Committee, of which more than 40 percent are women attorneys, to guide the firm's pro bono activities. Duane Morris recognizes associates for their professional efforts in pro bono cases, and their hours devoted to pro bono causes are included in individual annual billable-hour requirements. Under Nicole Friant's leadership, Duane Morris has centralized the firm's pro bono activities and greatly increased our participation in such programs.
Although Duane Morris is pleased with the progress we have made in growing and maintaining a culture of diversity, we also know we have not yet completed our mission. Judging from past successes, however, Duane Morris remains confident that our diversity goals will be achieved.
Download a PDF of the Diversity Committee 2006 Annual Report.