Diversity is essential to our business as a law firm. At Lord, Bissell & Brook LLP, we are committed to attracting, retaining and promoting attorneys of all backgrounds and making the workplace comfortable and inclusive of men and women of every race and ethnic minority. A diverse work force strengthens our firm by providing us with different perspectives on problem solving and also by improving our ability to attract the best legal talent in the market.
Diversity is an integral part of our practice at Lord, Bissell & Brook and we have integrated it as a component of our strategic business plan. As our Executive Committee has stated:
“We believe that diversity is essential to our business as a law firm. A diverse work force strengthens our firm by helping us attract the best legal talent and deliver the highest quality legal services to our clients. We have a strong commitment to attracting, retaining and promoting attorneys of all backgrounds and have made this commitment part of our strategic business plan. We actively promote diversity in our recruiting activities and through our emphasis on the mentoring and training of all of our attorneys.”
To achieve these goals, we maintain a standing Diversity Committee, comprised of 13 partners, including the Managing Partner, and three associates. The Chair of our Hiring Committee is on the Diversity Committee, and one of the Co-Chairs of the Diversity Committee also sits on the Hiring Committee. Our Executive Committee has recently adopted a Strategic Plan for Diversity which outlines our strategies for recruiting, supporting, retaining and advancing our minority attorneys. We also have an active Women’s Initiative which focuses on supporting the retention and advancement of our women lawyers.
Success and Recognition of Lord Bissell & Brook’s Diversity Efforts
The firm provides a culture that enables people to maximize their talents. Lord, Bissell & Brook includes among its rainmakers a number of women, minorities and persons of different sexual orientations.
In September 2002, our Los Angeles office won the Thomas L. Sager Award, presented by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (“MCCA”) to law firms that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to improve the hiring, retention and promotion of diverse attorneys. This award is given to firms that have adopted diversity as part of their strategic business plans and have implemented diversity programs that have the support of top management. In its selection process, MCCA considers efforts to recruit, retain, mentor, and promote attorneys; collaborative efforts with community and bar associations; and innovative practices designed to yield sustainable results to increase diversity.
We are honored to have received this prestigious award not only as an affirmation of what we are doing but as a challenge to continue to be a leader among law firms in the area of diversity.
Lord Bissell & Brook’s Support of Minority Associates
Recognizing that many visible and invisible barriers that minority attorneys often face in the workplace keep them from achieving all that they can, Lord, Bissell & Brook instituted a pilot mentoring program to assist our minority attorneys in developing the skills they need to make partner and to help them feel more connected to the firm. This program has been so successful that the firm is considering expanding it to include non-minority associates.
We sponsor quarterly meetings for our minority associates as well as regular off-site informal gatherings that engender comradery and provide opportunities to raise and discuss issues of common concern. The quarterly meetings are facilitated by our outside diversity consultant to ensure that the minority associates can speak candidly and confidentially and any issues raised are brought by our consultant to the Diversity Committee. We also sponsor regular culturally diverse social events for our attorneys and staff. In 2006, we are hosting special events to celebrate Black History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month.
Lord Bissell & Brook’s Support of Minority Law Students
The firm actively reaches out to minorities in its recruiting program for summer associates. In the past several years we have interviewed students at various minority student venues, including the Cook County Minority Job Fair. One of our attorneys, Lora Whitticker, will serve as Co-Chair for the 2006 Cook County Bar Association Minority Job Fair, with Lord, Bissell & Brook serving as the host firm. We also regularly sponsor events organized by minority law student organizations, attend minority student job-related events at law schools and host events for minority law students at the firm. Recent beneficiaries of our support include:
- Northwestern Law School’s Black Law Student Association and their two women’s events on business development and tips for success.
- University of Illinois College of Law Black Law Students Association. We hosted a student visit to the firm, including a luncheon, and attended their annual banquet in March. We also participated in their summer LawMap program, where we employed two minority college students for six weeks during the summer.
- Illinois Law School’s Asian American Law Student Association. We hosted a student visit to the firm in March, which also included a luncheon.
- The Illinois Law School’s Latino/a Law Student Association. We hosted a student visit to the firm in September 2005. One of our attorneys, Ernesto Palomo, was recently named alumni of the year by the association.
- North American South Asian Law Student Association’s Annual Conference in February 2006. We are the sole sponsor of one of the receptions for this event as well as a Diamond Sponsor of the Conference, and a number of our attorneys will be speaking on various panels.
Diversity Awareness at Lord Bissell & Brook
Over the past five years, we have provided comprehensive mentor/diversity training for attorneys involved with the summer program as well as diversity awareness and mentor training for the entire firm. In 2001, the firm hosted a Diversity Awareness seminar for the Hiring Committee and attorneys involved with the summer program; in 2002, partners attended a retreat that included a panel discussion on diversity led by our diversity consultant with panelists representing the legal departments of some of our largest clients; in 2003-2004, firm wide mandatory diversity training was provided; and in 2005, participants in the firm’s pilot mentoring program received training to enhance their mentoring skills. We are planning on additional diversity training in 2006.
Lord Bissell & Brook’s Support of Diversity-Focused Organizations
The firm also encourages its attorneys to become involved in minority organizations and provides funds for membership fees, seminar attendance, and event sponsorships. Our associates attend ABA-sponsored and other seminars designed especially for minority attorneys, including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s (MCCA) Annual CLE Expo in Chicago. We are currently acting as Host Law Firm for the Southeast Region of the MCCA by providing space for the organization’s regional office in our Atlanta office. Our attorneys are active participants within many diversity-focused organizations.
- Partner Paul Kim is a member of the Board of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
- Partner Jackie Klein serves on the Governing Board of the California Minority Counsel Program.
- Partner Janet Love has served as a moderator/speaker for minority law student groups and events promoting diversity in law firms.
The firm has also contributed to diversity by hosting a “Tips for Summer Associates” luncheon for the Chicago Committee for Minorities in Large Law Firms, a Chicago organization that promotes the professional development and advancement of minority attorneys in larger law firms. Several attorneys in the firm have been actively involved with this committee, which hosts various programs and seminars for minority attorneys throughout the year.
Lord Bissell & Brook’s Community Activities
Our diversity efforts reach beyond our office doors and into our community. We annually celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by sponsoring a “Day of Service,” in which attorneys and staff have the option of contributing a day of community service rather than devoting that day to regular office matters. For the past four years, we have arranged visits for our volunteers to various public service organizations to donate their services. On King Day, our partners work side-by-side with associates and staff cleaning, painting, sorting clothes, serving meals in soup kitchens, visiting schools for the under-privileged and other tasks. For employees who are unable to participate in the day’s events, the firm also provides other ways in which our employees can contribute. For the past few years, we have hosted a weeklong King Day collection drive to collect items including grocery gift certificates and canned foods, public transportation passes, clothes and school supplies. Our Day of Service became an instant success that the firm wholeheartedly embraced, and has quickly become a widely anticipated firm tradition.
Women at Lord, Bissell & Brook
Our female partners play an active role in firm management, including participation on numerous committees, including the Executive Committee. Women serve on the firm’s committees that set compensation of partners and associates and that screen associates for advancement to partners and the Chair of the Hiring Committee is a woman.
Female attorneys at the firm also play key roles within community and professional organizations and have been recognized for various awards including Crain’s 100 Most Influential Women in Chicago and Diversity & The Bar’s Women Litigators on the Rise.
In 2004, the firm launched a Women’s Initiative to support and encourage the success of women at Lord, Bissell & Brook. The Initiative’s goals are multifaceted including hiring, promoting and retaining female attorneys, encouraging women to take leadership roles in the firm and the community, and providing mentoring and networking opportunities.
We also signed the Chicago Bar Association’s “Call to Action” which has as its goal the promotion of women in law firms.
Looking Forward
We are proud of the results that our diversity efforts have yielded thus far, but we also know and acknowledge that our work is far from over. Our recent successes make us optimistic for the future. At the same time, we know the importance of continuing our efforts because we already see how our diversity initiatives make us a better firm and better allow us to deliver the highest quality legal services to our clients.