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Mission and Initiatives
Mission
We are committed to increasing diversity in our firm. Our goals are to foster the recruitment and retention of people of color, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered law students and lawyers; to ensure that all lawyers have the opportunity to develop their talents fully; to create a firm whose composition more closely reflects that of our clients and the world in which we practice; and to promote greater diversity in the legal profession.
Initiatives
Our firmwide Diversity Committee is chaired by partners from each of our major US offices, and subcommittees in each office focus on strategic initiatives tailored to meet that area's unique practice and culture. The Committee, which reports directly to our Management Committee, oversees the development and implementation of firmwide initiatives, which include the following:
- To advance retention and career development, the Committee is establishing programs and procedures to provide attorneys of color, women, and GLBT attorneys with exemplary training, meaningful work and the highest quality mentors.
- To promote the involvement and accountability of all partners, the firm tracks each partner’s contribution to the firm’s diversity efforts and makes it a component of partner compensation.
- To foster a supportive and welcoming culture, the firm encourages and finances regular, informal gatherings for attorneys of color, women and GLBT attorneys. In addition, we offer those attorneys opportunities to participate in community and pro bono activities that provide practical skills, such as networking and marketing, and chances for involvement in the broader community.
At WilmerHale, we:
- Maintain ongoing relationships with minority, women and GLBT 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 2010 management committee consists of fourteen partners in our US offices, of which three are women and two are lawyers of color. As of 1/1/10, 24% of our US partners are women and 8.5% of our US partners are lawyers of color.
- Billed approximately 2,300 hours in 2009 for committee member work in furtherance of diversity initiatives.
- 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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