Winston & Strawn is consistently regarded as one of the most diverse large law firms in the country. Our diversity efforts have won awards from the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the New York Urban League, the Hispanic Bar Association of Washington, D.C., and our client Morgan Stanley. In its most recently published survey on diversity (July 2008), Chicago Lawyer reported that Winston & Strawn has the second-highest number of minority partners. MCCA’s Diversity & the Bar (January 2006) magazine reported that our Chicago office displays “extraordinary progress in women in legal leadership” and that the firm overall boasts a higher percentage of women attorneys than the National Association for Law Placement national average. The Vault Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms has given the firm high diversity rankings. In 2008, the Burton Foundation, a legal writing organization, chose Diversity@Winston & Strawn as “Best Law Firm Newsletter.”
These successes are the result of extensive efforts by the firm. Winston & Strawn’s diversity values are articulated in a Diversity Charter that outlines the firm’s commitment to and responsibility for achieving greater diversity. The Charter, which was adopted by the firm’s Executive Committee, drives our ongoing efforts in several key areas: hiring, recruitment, and retention; promoting diversity on the basis of merit and performance; professional development; and maintaining a leadership position in our diversity endeavors.
Our diversity efforts are led by a formal, firmwide Diversity Committee, co-chaired by partners Amanda Groves and Joseph Torres, which includes representatives of top management and major practice areas and departments. The Diversity Committee’s work is guided by a formal strategic plan for diversity that involved research, focus groups, extensive interviews, and analysis. The plan, now in the implementation phase, has led to new initiatives, including an enhanced maternity leave policy.
Our recruitment and retention efforts involve ongoing and active participation in law school and minority association job fairs, including efforts with the Harvard Law School Black Law Students and Cook County (IL) Bar Association minority job fairs, as well as the Bay Area Diversity Career Fair, Lavender Law, and Latino/a Law Student Association, and Hispanic National Bar Association.
The firm believes in taking an active role in diversifying the law school pipeline and, since 2001, has offered scholarships to diverse law school students. In selecting the scholarship recipients, we consider the students’ academic achievements and extra-curricular activities, demonstrated leadership skills, and interpersonal skills. Award recipients become part of our summer associate program, and we encourage them to consider positions with us upon graduation.
Our formal mentoring program, rolled out in 2007, is designed to encourage retention among our attorneys. At a national level, the program is co-chaired by a minority female attorney. The Chicago office mentoring program is coordinated by two minority females, and the New York and San Francisco office efforts also are led by women. The program is designed to provide support for the career and professional development of associates, including opportunities for greater attorney interaction across levels, discussion about firm culture, processes, expectations, and values, and more rapid assumption of leadership roles.
We also support women attorneys through our Women’s Steering Committee (WSC), which includes women partners from the firm’soffices who meet quarterly to discuss new initiatives and ongoing efforts aimed at retaining, developing, and promoting women attorneys to partnership and leadership positions. Through the Women to Women initiative (W2W), the firm hosts formal and informal programs so female associates have a chance to develop stronger relationships with female partners. The formal programs have included discussions on business development and leadership, along with profiles of new female lateral partners. Informal mentoring lunches provide opportunities for female associates to meet with female partners to discuss work-related issues. To encourage information sharing, the firm has held three firmwide women’s conferences for all female partners and associates that have included panel discussions, outside speakers, and networking opportunities.
The firm rolled out a Parent2Parent intranet site in 2008 that includes information, tips, and contacts so attorneys can more easily manage their legal careers and home life. The core set of pages include information about adoption and pregnancy, childcare resources, elder care, school options, books, DVDs, and links to many web sites. The site is interactive so attorneys can share tips, news, and suggestions with other attorneys about parenting and family issues.
