Diversity: Pepper Hamilton LLP

"Our most valued resource is our people."
-- Pepper Hamilton's vision statement

Pepper Hamilton LLP is committed to advancing diversity, and we work continuously to expand and promote opportunities for all Pepper people. In addition to ensuring that the firm is an attractive and fair place to work, we take seriously our clients' commitment to diversity by making every effort to assemble appropriate project teams that accommodate their diversity requests and requirements.

Pepper is a limited liability partnership in which women and minorities hold ownership interests. Applicants are hired without regard to their age, race, gender, sexual orientation, color, religion, national origin, place of birth, non-job-related disability or any other legally protected status, and once employed by the firm, individuals are treated without regard to any of these criteria.

Recognizing that diverse characteristics and talent enhance any organization, and that a national law firm must reflect our many different cultures and ideas, we actively recruit and encourage the hiring, training and promotion of women and minorities.

Pepper regularly participates in and sponsors diversity initiatives such as:

• the American Bar Association's Women in the Profession Research Project on the Retention and Advancement of Women Attorneys of Color
• the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group, an organization of law firms and corporate counsel promoting minority lawyer hiring and retention (Pepper is a founding member)
• the Wolverine Bar Association, a minority organization in Michigan
• the Dauphin County (Pa.) Bar Association's Capital Area Managing Partners Diversity Initiative (Pepper is a charter member)
• the Philadelphia Bar Association's Statement of Goals of Philadelphia Law Firms and Legal Departments for the Retention and Promotion of Women (Pepper is a signatory)
• the Philadelphia Bar Association's Statement of Goals of Philadelphia Law Firms and Legal Departments for Increasing Minority Representation and Retention (Pepper is a signatory).

We participate annually in regional and local minority law student job fairs and other minority recruiting events, and we actively recruit at predominately minority law schools, such as Howard University.

In 2003, Pepper launched a diversity initiative to enhance the firm's commitment to the hiring and retention of minority lawyers. The firm engaged a nationally prominent diversity consultant to survey the firm's minority lawyers, both current and alumni, to assess our strengths and shortcomings as a firm in which minority lawyers can reach their professional potential and achieve personal and professional satisfaction.

Using what she had learned as a springboard for discussion, the consultant facilitated diversity workshops for members of the firm's Executive, Associates and Hiring committees, and all department, practice group and office heads. The workshops heightened the participants' appreciation of the variety of backgrounds, personal characteristics and skills that contribute to a successful business and professional organization, and that need to be consciously cultivated for Pepper to flourish.

At an annual firm meeting, the consultant spoke about the role of diversity in the Pepper workplace to all of Pepper's lawyers, legal assistants and senior managers, and she conducted a diversity workshop for non-lawyer staff.

As part of our diversity initiative, Pepper has established a mentoring program for all minority associates, which includes training for mentors and protégés, and regular get-togethers of the participants for comparing notes on best mentoring practices and monitoring the program's progress. Our director of professionalism and our director of associate development work to bring in-depth, creative training programs and opportunities to the firm.

We also believe that good mentoring and networking occur outside of the law firm, and we pay dues for minority bar association memberships. We also were one of the first firms in the nation to offer benefits to same-gender domestic partners of our employees.

Our attempts to search out, recruit and encourage promotion of women and minorities have rewarded the firm and the individuals involved. The firm elected its first female partner in 1960, well ahead of most major law firms. We were one of the first large firms to elect a woman as executive partner. Women head our Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, as well as the Health Effects Litigation, Insurance, Real Estate and Tax practice groups. Women and minorities serve on the firm's managing committees, including the Executive Committee, of which a woman is vice chairwoman. Pepper legal assistants, managers and staff represent a diverse group of dedicated professionals; more than half are women or minorities or both.

Many of Pepper's minority and women lawyers hold leadership positions outside of the firm. For example:

• in 2004, a Philadelphia partner became the first person of color to lead the 29,000-member Pennsylvania Bar Association
• an African-American in our Detroit office is vice chairman of the Executive Committee of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
• a female partner was president of the board of directors of the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program in 2002
• a female partner was president of the Detroit Bar Association in 1995-96
• in 1991, one of our associates (now a partner) was the first African-American to chair the 5,000-member Young Lawyers Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

In addition, a number of our lawyers are active board members of minority, women, gay and lesbian, and other bar and community organizations. The list is long and varied.

Historically, Pepper has encouraged and strongly supported its lawyers' involvement in minority organizations. For example, in 1999, one of our partners co-chaired the National Bar Association's annual convention in Philadelphia (the NBA represents more than 15,000 African-American lawyers and judges across the country). Pepper provided substantial in-kind support for the convention and sponsored a major reception during the week-long event.

We also participate in Lavender Law, the annual conference of the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association and the National Lesbian and Gay Law Foundation, which attracts more than 500 practicing attorneys and law professors and 200 law students.

One of our lawyers received the Outstanding Community Service Award in 2004 from PA-GALA (Pennsylvania Gay and Lesbian Alliance) for his work in defending the City of Allentown's anti-discrimination ordinance. The same lawyer received the Michael Greenberg Award for Lifetime Achievement from GALLOP (Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Pennsylvania) in 2003.

Pepper is dedicated to offering equal and fair employment opportunities, and we work continuously to ensure the well-being of our most valued resource - our people.