Diversity: Haynes and Boone, LLP

A Comprehensive Effort to Recruit and Retain

Effective recruiting and mentoring are foundations of diversity. To that end, we have established the Haynes and Boone Minority Scholars Program for first year students at SMU Dedman School of Law and the University of Texas School of Law. Haynes and Boone Scholars receive a monthly stipend, a summer clerkship at our firm, and a mentor to provide guidance during the student’s first year in law school.

Since 2003, Haynes and Boone has also participated in an initiative sponsored by the Houston Bar Association to provide a summer clerkship in our Houston office to a first year minority law student from one of the three area law schools in Houston (the University of Houston, South Texas College of Law, and Texas Southern University). For more information about this initiative, please contact the Recruiting Offices of one of these schools.

Minority and women lawyers at the firm also benefit from an environment that places strong emphasis on mentoring and training. In fact, in 2002, Haynes and Boone received the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s prestigious Thomas L. Sager Award for sustained commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of minority and women lawyers. This award is just one example of the recognition that the firm has received for its diversity efforts.

Groundbreaking Recruiting Programs

Haynes and Boone’s “1L Fast Track Program” is a truly innovative recruiting program. During the second half of the summer, Haynes and Boone invites a large group of first year law students, many of them minority law students, to spend a week at the law firm. This ground-breaking alternative to the traditional 6-week summer program provides “Fast-Trackers” with a unique opportunity to experience Haynes and Boone’s dynamic culture.

Diversity.  Living a Tangible Commitment

Haynes and Boone has long been recognized as a pioneer in the area of diversity and women initiatives. In fact, the firm appears in many “Top 100” rankings related to diversity and women issues. Although we are proud of this recognition, the firm views these accomplishments as small steps towards a greater journey.

Our diverse group women and minority attorneys play a pivotal role in our firm’s past, present and future development. We seek to attract and retain lawyers of varied backgrounds who reflect the global marketplace that we serve, and mirror the diverse communities in which we live.

Facilitating Dialogue via Targeted Networking Opportunities

Haynes and Boone believes that facilitating communication amongst minority and women attorneys is key to advancing diversity.

Every other year, minority attorneys at the firm are invited to an annual “Minority Retreat.” The Minority Retreat provides a forum for minority attorneys to openly discuss minority attorney retention and minority attorney development issues. During the two-day retreat, attendees participate in small break-out discussion groups, where they discuss ways to maintain and improve diversity at the law firm. After the break-out sessions, the attendees reconvene and share their discussions with all of the attendees. The Minority Retreat also offers attendees an opportunity to meet and get to know other minority attorneys at the law firm. Guest speakers, who are often client in-house attorneys, are also invited to the Minority Retreat to share their views on how diversity affects the practice of law.

Women attorneys at the firm have regularly scheduled “Women Attorney Lunches,” where they have a chance to network and discuss issues that affect women attorneys.

A Record of Transparency and Accomplishment

Our diversity and women initiatives encourage our lawyers to draw upon their unique experiences and backgrounds to develop their careers. Here are a couple of key facts about our lawyers: 1) our lawyers come from 46 states and 26 foreign countries, and 2) Haynes and Boone has speakers of more than 15 different languages, including Spanish, Russian, French, Portuguese, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

We strongly believe that cultural and ethnic differences enhance innovation and the delivery of quality legal services to a diverse marketplace. Our beliefs are reflected in our attorney workforce (17% of our lawyers of color and 32% are women), ranking us first among Texas-based law firms and well into the top third of the 250 largest firms in the U.S.

We believe that recognition for our diversity efforts helps build momentum to support our recruitment and retention of the widest and best cross-section of attorney talent.  That is why we are proud of such designations and rankings as these:

• Minority Law Journal ranked Haynes and Boone No. 69 in its 2009 Diversity Scorecard, a survey of diversity statistics in more than 250 of the country's largest and highest-grossing firms.
• Haynes and Boone was ranked among the Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity in 2009 by MultiCultural Law, marking the second consecutive year the firm received the honor. Among Haynes and Boone lawyers, 31 percent are minorities and 59 percent are women.
• For 2010, Vault honored Haynes and Boone for its ongoing commitment to diversity, listing the firm among the top 20 U.S. law firms in three separate diversity categories, including No. 4 in Diversity with Respect to Women, No. 5 in Diversity with Respect to Minorities, and No. 9 of the Best 20 Law Firms for Overall Diversity.
• Haynes and Boone earned the top rating of 100 percent in the 2009 Corporate Equality Index administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The firm received top marks for its treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees and consumers.
• Haynes and Boone was recognized as a top firm for women, ranking No. 55 in MultiCultural Law’s 2009 survey of the Top 100 Law Firms for Women. The firm received a similar honor in 2008 being listed among Women 3.0 magazine’s Top 100 Law Firms for Women.
• MultiCultural Law cited Haynes and Boone as a Top 25 Law Firm for Hispanics for two consecutive years, 2008 and 2009.
• In American Lawyer’s 2009 Mid-Level Associate Survey, our associates scored us at 4.22 out of 5 for Dedication to Diversity.

A Program of Active Advancement

Haynes and Boone’s Diversity Committee actively works to identify the unique struggles and obstacles that minority and women attorneys face. Upon identifying these roadblocks, the Diversity Committee develops initiatives to remove these barriers and advance the hiring, retention and promotion of minority and women lawyers in our firm. For us “diversity” is not programs or statistics, it is an integral part of our culture.

The Diversity Committee is led by 14 firm partners (including the managing partner) who advocate the importance and necessity of a diverse law firm. This is a reflection of our leadership’s insistence on the inclusion of diverse lawyers into firm governance as practice group leaders, committee leaders, and holders of key management roles.

Our lawyers also actively pursue leadership roles outside of our firm in state and local bar associations that support diversity in the legal workplace. For example, our lawyers are leaders in the following groups: the Texas Minority Counsel Program, the Dallas Asian American Bar Association, the Houston Hispanic Bar Association, and the Asian American Bar Association of Houston