Shipman & Goodwin is committed to diversity and inclusiveness within the firm, the legal profession and the community. We value the unique backgrounds and distinct contributions of all individuals; our deep commitment is reflected in our efforts to promote understanding, advancement and empowerment.
Our firm management, Diversity Committee and other key members of the firm collaborate to emphasize action. We support ongoing initiatives to recruit, mentor and retain a diverse team of attorneys and staff. We sponsor organizations and develop events that share perspectives and raise awareness of diversity issues facing organizations and the community. We serve as leaders and partner with others to increase diversity in the legal profession.
Our Policy
One of our core values and objectives is to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace and to develop the outreach initiatives needed to ensure that such values and objectives are shared by everyone at our firm. Diversity, to us, means recognizing, accepting and including differences, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation. Our Strategic Plan recognizes that our continued success depends upon our ability to recruit, hire, train, mentor and retain excellent and diverse attorneys and staff. Maintaining an inclusive organization where all feel welcomed and empowered to succeed enables us to provide the breadth of experience and perspective that best serves our ever more diverse clientele and community.
Commitment
We have a tradition of supporting diversity initiatives both within and outside of the Firm. Among the first large Connecticut law firms to have a woman partner, we have been a leader in addressing and advancing women’s causes in the legal profession, and continue to have the highest percentage of female partners among large firms in Connecticut. We assisted in the formation of the Connecticut Lawyers Group on Minority Hiring and Retention in the late 1980s and were an original signatory of the Statement of Sixteen Connecticut Law Firms Regarding the Hiring and Retention of Minority Lawyers in January 1991. The principles of that Statement helped guide us in developing our hiring, mentoring and retention programs and policies to attract and retain diverse legal and non-legal personnel.
In 1993, we established our Diversity Committee, comprised of partners, associates and staff. The Diversity Committee’s original and ongoing mission includes three essential initiatives: (i) to act as a study group and to conduct programs to educate the Firm concerning diversity issues and to suggest diversity policies to implement at the Firm; (ii) to sponsor Firm-wide outreach activities and events, as part of our effort to increase the number of diverse attorneys at the Firm; and (iii) to act as a resource on diversity matters for the Management, Hiring, and Associates Committees, as well as other groups in the Firm. For 15 years, the Diversity Committee has pursued these initiatives and the Firm’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.
Together with other members of the Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity and diversity-based law school and bar organizations such as the South Asian Bar Association of Connecticut, the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association, the Black Law Students Association at the University of Connecticut School of Law, the Connecticut Hispanic Bar Association, the Lambda Law Society at the University of Connecticut School of Law, and the Connecticut Asian Pacific American Bar Association, we continue to work to make Connecticut an attractive environment for all lawyers and law students within which to thrive.
Diversity Team
Women at the Helm
Women attorneys and clients prosper at the firm. Nearly half our associates, 30 percent of our partners and many of our most valued clients are women. To celebrate this array of accomplished women, we are proud to present the Women at the Helm Breakfast Series. Our goal is to bring together diverse and talented women to share ideas and inspiration. At each seminar, a dynamic woman in business, government, medicine, education or the arts will share her insights and experience.
