Diversity: Holme Roberts & Owen LLP

Diversity is a core value at HRO. Those lawyers who identify with diverse groups based on race, ethnicity, or gender enrich all of us. The firm is one of the original signatories to the Colorado Pledge to Diversity. The Pledge was signed in 1993 and re-vamped in 2000. It is a commitment by Denver’s largest law firms to set forth and take steps to meet clear, realistic, and attainable goals for the enhancement of racial and ethnic diversity in Colorado law firms.

HRO recently hired Marla Williams to head the firm’s Diversity Committee, a group of multi-ethnic lawyers dedicated to increasing awareness within the firm of diversity issues and increasing success rates in hiring, retaining, and advancing women and members of diverse groups. Ms. Williams was President and CEO of The Women’s Foundation of Colorado, a statewide public foundation dedicated to the advancement of women and girls, from 1997-2004. We strive to create a working environment in which each individual is valued and treated with dignity and respect, and strive to enhance the firm’s image in the community with respect to gender and ethnicity issues. Ms. Williams daily responsibilities include guiding HRO’s effort to achieve these goals.

HRO has participated in the first-year Minority Clerkship Program sponsored by the Pledge Group since the inaugural year (2001). We have and will continue to support the program. We recognize that improving diversity starts with educational opportunities. In 2005, HRO initiated the James E. Bye Scholarship program. This scholarship is available to first-year law students at each of the Colorado law schools to assist diverse law students with their studies.

HRO is a corporate member of the California Minority Counsel Program (“CMCP”). The CMCP introduces minority attorneys practicing in California to prospective clients. In addition, the CMCP provides a forum for in-house counsel to network with other in-house counsel, attend continuing legal education and other professional programs and meet outside counsel from a variety of practice areas. The CMCP counts among its members numerous prominent national and international corporations, including Clorox, Del Monte, Visa, Wells Fargo, Union Bank, The Gap, and others.