Development, Mentorship and Promotion

“Effective mentoring is essential to advancing and developing in a law firm. As I rose up through the ranks as an associate, several partners in my department took an interest in my progress. In addition to providing me with opportunities to develop my legal skills, they gave guidance on the “softer” skills, such as client interaction, project management and professional appearance, that can be harder to learn, but are critical to becoming a partner” – Junior partner

Providing diverse lawyers with enhanced developmental and mentoring opportunities is key to our retention and promo-tion efforts. All of our initiatives, from the creation of mentoring programs to the sponsorship of diversity roundtables, are geared toward creating a workplace where every individual can realize his or her potential for professional success.

Some of our most innovative developmental and mentoring initiatives include:

Connections Across Differences
As a supplement to our firm’s larger mentoring program, Connections Across Differences, pairs junior to mid-level diverse lawyers with partners for a one year period. Both the mentor and the mentee sign a contract that serves as a road-map for the partner to help the associate achieve his or her professional and career development goals.

Business Development Speaker Series
Our speaker series exposes senior associates and counsel to key partners at the firm, as well as other professionals in the business and legal community, who can provide a perspective on how to enhance one’s business and client develop-ment skills.

Client Collaborations & Partnerships
We actively seek opportunities for the firm to collaborate with existing and potential clients on diversity initiatives and to create networking and client development opportunities for diverse lawyers at the firm.

Promotion and Leadership Development
Creating a more diverse partnership continues to be a major focus of our diversity efforts. We have a Career Development Working Group comprised of key partners at the firm who monitor and work closely with practice group heads to ensure that diverse lawyers are given the opportunities to work on challenging legal assignments, have access to quality mentors and receive career guidance as they advance in their legal careers.