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Mission and Initiatives
Mission
We are committed to fostering an environment that embraces each individual’s unique background, experience and perspective. Our goal is to reflect the diversity of our clients and the communities in which we practice.
We achieve this by recruiting talented and accomplished lawyers and staff and by providing resources to enhance their professional development and help them reach their full potential. We also provide these individuals with opportunities to impact impact the communities in which we live and practice through pro bono and community service.
Initiatives
A commitment to diversity is one of WilmerHale’s Guiding Principles. The Diversity Committee helps the firm further this principle by focusing on:
- working with firm leaders to ensure the continued effectiveness of our mentoring program and
work assignment process;
- promoting accountability by providing firm leadership with regular reports that track the progress
of the firm’s diversity initiatives;
- creating substantive programs designed to enhance the firm’s retention and advancement efforts;
providing lawyers with networking opportunities through affinity group activities and a variety of
internal and external programs;
- using our Diversity Speaker Series program to expose the firm community to prominent lawyers in
academia, private practice and the public sector, and to a range of diversity-related topics;
- encouraging and sponsoring participation in bar associations, pro bono matters and other
community service-related activities;
- furthering diversity in the legal profession by hosting panel discussions and receptions for law
students and diversity-related organizations;
- participating in initiatives that improve the diversity pipeline by providing students with early
exposure to law school and the practice of law (e.g., Law Preview and Sponsors for Educational
Opportunity); and
- publishing a quarterly newsletter, People, Perspectives and Press, to showcase our diversity program to clients, law students and other organizations interested in our efforts.
The firm-wide Diversity Committee reports directly to our Management Committee and is chaired by partners in our Boston, New York, Palo Alto and Washington DC offices. The director of talent diversity supports the Diversity Committee and focuses on firm-wide initiatives. Administrative staff in each office support local diversity efforts.
At WilmerHale we:
- Maintain ongoing relationships with minority, women and LGBT student and professional organizations.
- Recruit through job fairs and events sponsored by organizations such as the Boston Lawyers Group, the National Bar Association, the Lavender Law Conference, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Conference and the Harvard Black Law Student’s Association Conference.
- Strive for diversity in our lateral hiring, and we number several lawyers of color and women among our recent lateral partners.
- Are a signatory to the DC Conference on Opportunities for Minorities in the Legal Profession and to the Statement of Diversity Principles of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
- Have significant numbers of women and minorities in leadership positions—Our 2011 management committee consists of fourteen partners in our US offices, of which three are women and two are lawyers of color. As of 1/1/11, 24% of our US partners are women and 9% of our US partners are lawyers of color.
- Billed approximately 4,793 hours in furtherance of the firm's diversity initiatives in 2009. We also have a full-time diversity director who is a lawyer and administrative staff that dedicate a portion of their time to diversity efforts.
- Are a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers, an organization aimed at advancing and supporting women in and under the law.
Leadership
Our attorneys are active participants and many have served in leadership positions in organizations such as the Gay and Lesbian Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association, the Black Lawyers Association, the Association of Hispanic Attorneys and the Asian-American Lawyers Association. In addition, we were one of the founders of the Boston Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law.
The firm is a corporate member of The Partnership and participates in its Boston Fellows program. The program is designed to retain and mobilize the leadership of professionals of color (in particular, African Americans) who are employed in corporations, law firms, hospitals, academic and other institutions throughout Greater Boston. Fellows are nominated by their employers and upon selection participate in the program’s monthly forums and activities, which acquaint them with the institutions and major sectors of the city and provide an opportunity to meet with Boston’s most influential people of color and key non-minority decision makers. Annually, several associates and partners participate in the Boston Fellows program and the Boston Fellows Alumni Organization.
In addition, our partner, Wendell Taylor, serves on the Executive Committee of The Boston Lawyers Group (BLG). The BLG is a consortium of Boston law firms, corporations and government agencies committed to recruit, develop, advance and retain attorneys of color. Several of our associates participate in the BLG’s Mock Interview Program. This program matches attorneys with first year law students of color. Attorneys conduct mock one-on-one interviews and provide constructive feedback regarding the students’ resumes and interviewing skills.
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