Marshall Dennehey has long been committed to diversity and
inclusion with a commitment that starts at the top. Our current Executive
Committee members, G. Mark Thompson, Howard P. Dwoskin and Craig S. Hudson, as
well as our past leadership, have set the tone on this issue by clearly and
consistently emphasizing that a diverse and inclusive environment is
intertwined with the success of the firm.
Diversity means more to us than ethnic diversity, and we strive to
make our firm a place where ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ+ individuals,
neurodiverse people and those with physical disabilities can succeed. We have
long supported the Legal Clinic for the Disabled in Philadelphia, with two of
our attorneys serving on its Board of Directors over the last few years. We are
constant in our efforts to retain and grow our diverse population as that
strengthens our organization. In 2019 we received a Diversity & Inclusion
Award from Liberty Mutual Insurance in recognition of these efforts.
Our history of promoting minority attorneys goes back a generation
to when Hiliary Holloway became the firm’s first African-American shareholder
in 1990. Presently, we have several minority attorneys who hold positions of
senior leadership at the firm, including Michael Turner and Kevin Hexstall who
are members of our Board of Directors. We actively seek to hire or promote
minorities across professional and support staff as well. The directors of our
IT and HR Departments are African-American women, and professionals of other
ethnic backgrounds serve as managers and supervisors across many administrative
departments of the firm.
We have a 10-person Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee that
has set into place a number of initiatives that assist in both hiring and
retaining attorneys of color. We have a mentoring system in place where our
minority shareholders reach out to our younger minority associates to provide
them with support, counsel and encouragement, that can make a significant
difference in their professional progression.
In addition to mentorship, we hold an annual meeting and dinner in
our Philadelphia headquarters office for attorneys of color. Attorneys from all
of our 20 offices attend this event (virtually during this pandemic) where
educational seminars, specifically designed to assist those of color to thrive
in a majority environment, are given. These seminars are led by internal and
external speakers. The event concludes with a dinner that focuses on
camaraderie and making horizontal connections within the greater firm for an
added layer of encouragement and support.
Throughout the year there are opportunities for smaller groupings
of minority attorneys, based on geography, to get together and meet with each
other. Some of these events are attended by the firm’s Executive Committee,
which recognizes how important it is for these groups to be able to spend time
with firm leadership. The firm also participates in minority job fairs and
strives to identify minority attorneys and law students who are interested in
litigation careers.
We
are proud to support our attorneys’ participation in affinity groups that will
further their professional development and growth. Minority attorneys at
Marshall Dennehey are members of, and participate in, numerous minority
organizations, including the National Bar Association (African-American
attorneys), the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National
Hispanic Bar Association, the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia
(membership primarily made up of African-American attorneys practicing in the
Philadelphia region), the South Asian Bar Association of Philadelphia, the
Asian American Bar Association of the Delaware Valley (membership is primarily
made up of Asian American attorneys practicing in the Philadelphia region), the
Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania and the Tampa Bay Hispanic Bar
Association. Additionally, minority attorneys serve on minority and diversity
committees and subcommittees of various national and local professional
organizations.
Recent
Recognition:
- The American Lawyer 2020 A-List, Female Equity Partner Scorecard,
Ranked #3 among the Am Law 200
- 2019 Diversity and Inclusion Award from Liberty Mutual Insurance
- 2019 Minority Business Leaders Award, Philadelphia Business
Journal—Niki T. Ingram, recipient
- Law360’s 2019 Glass Ceiling Report, Best Law Firms for Female
Partners – we ranked #2 among law firms with 300-599 attorneys
- Women Inc. – Top 100 Law Firms for Women, 2019
- National Law Journal’s 2019 Women’s Scorecard – we placed in the
top 12% of law firms recognized
- Honor Roll of Legal Organizations Welcoming to Women Professionals
– Pennsylvania Bar Association, 2014
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Number of Associates who are...
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Non-minority Males
84
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Minority Males
15
-
Non-minority Females
81
-
Minority Females
20
-
Number of Administrative Professionals who are...
-
Non-minority Males
0
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
26
-
Minority Females
4
-
Number of Paralegals who are...
-
Non-minority Males
7
-
Minority Males
2
-
Non-minority Females
73
-
Minority Females
9
-
Number of Other Lawyers who are...
-
Non-minority Males
0
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
0
-
Minority Females
0
-
Number of Of Counsel who are...
-
Non-minority Males
5
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
0
-
Minority Females
0
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Litigation eDiscovery Best Practices
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Does the firm have an established eDiscovery Committee?
Yes
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Does your firm have any educational programs designed to address the changing federal rules of civil procedure?
Yes
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Does your firm have a standardized protocol to guide client data collection? (i.e. Maintaining chain of custody, utilizing forensically sound procedures)
Yes
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Does the firm have a standardized protocol to guide processing clients' edata? (i.e. all data produced in PDF, meta data preserved?)
Yes
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Does the firm have a standardized approach for document reviews across practice groups (i.e. established protocol for eDiscovery review depending on the needs of the case)
Yes
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Litigation General Best Practices
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Does the firm have a formalized new associate litigation training/mentoring program?
Yes
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Does the firm's litigation department have a structured approach to early case assessment? For example: Does your firm implement a standard approach to determine risks and strengths early in a case to assess trial or settlement options?
Yes
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Does the firm have an established records management team to assist clients with records retention, compliance and litigation preparedness?
Yes
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Number of Human Resources Professionals who are...
-
Non-minority Males
1
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
4
-
Minority Females
0
-
Number of Finance Professionals who are...
-
Non-minority Males
14
-
Minority Males
2
-
Non-minority Females
37
-
Minority Females
13
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Number of Librarians who are...
-
Non-minority Males
1
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
4
-
Minority Females
3
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Vendor Management
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Does the firm have preferred vendor relationships?
Yes
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Knowledge Management
-
Does the firm have a knowledge management program?
Yes
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Disaster Recovery
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Does the firm have a disaster recovery plan in place?
Yes
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Number of Partners who are...
-
Non-minority Males
208
-
Minority Males
8
-
Non-minority Females
57
-
Minority Females
4
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Matter Budgeting and Financial Management
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Does the firm establish formal budgets for client engagements?
Yes
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Are bills submitted electronically?
Yes
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Number of Technology Professionals who are...
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Non-minority Males
19
-
Minority Males
7
-
Non-minority Females
6
-
Minority Females
6
-
Number of Marketing Professionals who are...
-
Non-minority Males
1
-
Minority Males
0
-
Non-minority Females
6
-
Minority Females
0
