At the end of 2015, Duane Morris partner Nolan N. Atkinson Jr. will be leaving a profession that still struggles with increasing its diverse population to join the government ranks of a city that is quite diverse, but is seeking to improve inclusion.

Atkinson, who has spent the last eight years as chief diversity and inclusion officer of Duane Morris, will serve as the city of Philadelphia's first-ever chief diversity and inclusion officer under Mayor-elect Jim Kenney.

For Atkinson, the audiences may be different, but there are several lessons he has learned from his efforts improving diversity in the legal profession that he intends to apply to the broader city government landscape.

Large law firms in Pennsylvania have done a much better job over the last 15 years when it comes to the recruitment of diverse attorneys, Atkinson said. But retention of those attorneys has proven challenging, in part because there aren't enough being hired to show minority recruits and diverse attorneys that large law is a sustainable environment for them.

"The ability to keep lawyers of color and other diverse attorneys in the large law firms is much more challenging than I think any of us really anticipated when we first started this effort," Atkinson said. "In order to really do what you need to do as far as recruitment, you have to solve retention, because simply by retaining, numbers will go up when recruiting."

As has been a focus of large law firms' diversity efforts, Atkinson said making sure everyone gets their fair share of good assignments and promotion opportunities is a big piece of retention and inclusion. He said that could apply in any of the city's departments.

A corollary lesson he has taken from the law firm world is to ensure that city employees feel like they are successful and being challenged.

"Even though we talk numbers, and numbers are very important, it is even more important that the numbers who are diverse have a feeling of being successful," Atkinson said.

One of the first steps to embedding the principle of inclusion within the city's government is to recognize that there are barriers that must be addressed, Atkinson said. If barriers to inclusion exist, he said, then the city is not operating at its maximum capacity. Atkinson said it is too early for him to identify specific barriers facing Philadelphia given he doesn't start in his new role until January. But he said his first priority is to understand the current metrics and determine what programs might help alleviate any barriers.

"My goal is to use whatever abilities I have to foster inclusion for all of those who are in the city," Atkinson said.

Kenney announced Atkinson's appointment at a City Hall press conference Nov. 18. Atkinson will report directly to Kenney and focus his efforts on "addressing the barriers that keep the city's workforce racially and economically divided," Kenney said in a statement.

According to Kenney's spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt, the creation of the chief diversity and inclusion officer position "comes from the funds already allocated to staffing for the Mayor's Office." While the city's overall budget is approved by City Council, Atkinson's role does not require council approval, she said.

Atkinson has long been involved in diversity initiatives in the Philadelphia area. Aside from serving as Duane Morris' chief diversity and inclusion officer since 2007, Atkinson was a founder and former president of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, a consortium of law firms and corporations focused on improving diversity in the legal profession.

And in 2010, Atkinson successfully petitioned to have his great-grandfather, George B. Vashon, posthumously admitted to the Pennsylvania bar, a right he was refused in 1847 due to racial discrimination.

Atkinson's government appointment comes just a few weeks after Duane Morris announced that Minority Corporate Counsel Association President Joseph West would be joining the firm as co-chief diversity and inclusion officer, set to take over the role from Atkinson completely in May. Atkinson said West's hiring was not spawned by Atkinson's new position. He said his new role will mean West takes over as chief diversity and inclusion officer of the law firm in January as opposed to May.

Atkinson said he had thought it was time to start transitioning his diversity role at the law firm and was involved in West's selection. He then got to know the Kenney administration through his work on Kenney's transition team as co-chair of the city administrative services committee.

Atkinson's last day at Duane Morris will be Dec. 31. He will focus on transitioning his commercial litigation practice to other attorneys in the firm over the next few weeks.

"Duane Morris has been simply an outstanding place for me to work," Atkinson said, noting he has spent nearly 25 years at the firm.

"There has been a lot of change in the firm as far as diversity and inclusion and that can only come from leadership at the top," Atkinson said. "[Chairman] John Soroko and [Chief Operating Officer] Charles O'Donnell have been leaders and empowered me to work seriously at making the firm more inclusive."

Taking this new position means starting from the beginning, he said.

"I hope that a couple of years from now people will say I did a good job," Atkinson said.

Reprinted with permission from The Legal Intelligencer, © ALM Media Properties LLC. All rights reserved.