Diversity and Inclusion Programs and Efforts

Sheppard Mullin has a long-standing commitment to both increasing and sustaining diversity in the legal profession. The Firm's Diversity Committee was established in the early 1990s to address a variety of critically important issues facing the legal profession and has sponsored numerous initiatives and programs to help fulfill our mission. Sheppard Mullin is committed to providing quality training, mentoring, and opportunities for growth and business development to all of our attorneys, and especially understands the importance of these activities for diverse attorneys.

Chief Talent Officer and Manager of Diversity & Inclusion

Because the Firm actively seeks to hire and maintain a team of attorneys that is both the best of the brightest and as diverse as the world in which we practice, two roles were created at Sheppard Mullin – Chief Talent Officer (CTO) and Manager of Diversity & Inclusion. The CTO is responsible for leading all of the functions that affect the associate lifecycle: recruiting, performance and development, diversity and inclusion, and direct practice group support. The full-time Diversity & Inclusion Manager works closely with the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, its Chair and the CTO to manage and support the Firm's existing diversity and inclusion efforts and develop new internal and external initiatives.

Firm Management & Leadership

Sheppard Mullin recognizes the importance of diverse leadership:

• The Firm's Executive Committee and office managing partners include women.   
• Three women are Practice Group Leaders.
• An African-American woman partner chairs the Firm's Diversity & Inclusion Committee, which includes seven additional partners of color, one associate of color, eight women attorneys and two openly gay male partners.
• A minority woman partner is Deputy General Counsel of the Firm, and three women attorneys are members of the Firm's general counsel's office.
• Two women partners and a male partner of color sit on the Firm's Compensation Committee; two women partners serve on the Investment Committee; and a woman partner sits on the Firm's Retirement Committee.
• Firm-wide Recruiting Committees include women attorneys, attorneys of color, openly gay attorneys and attorneys with disabilities.

Affinity Groups

Sheppard Mullin has a number of very active, attorney-led affinity groups. The Firm encourages attorneys to form affinity groups around common interests:

• Sheppard Mullin Women Lawyers Group (WLG) – Individual office groups meet monthly and provide women attorneys with leadership opportunities and ongoing support. They also develop monthly activities and host special client and business development events.
  
  
• Women Attorneys Leadership Council – The firm-wide WLG leaders meet quarterly via teleconference to discuss programs, share experiences and address issues. They also keep abreast of best practices for women attorneys and provide important feedback to Firm leadership.
  
  
• Diversity & Inclusion Attorney Network – The firm-wide group for attorneys of color serves as an ongoing network of support for its members and as a voice to Firm leadership. They create professional development programs, plan activities for client development, and connect with external legal and community organizations serving attorneys and people of color.
  
  
• Out At Sheppard – The firm-wide LGBT attorneys group meets monthly to provide support for its members and give feedback to Firm leadership on relevant issues. The group also hosts client and business development activities and connects with external local and national LGBT organizations.
   
  
• Parents At Sheppard Mullin – Our newest affinity group provides information to its female and male members on parenting, work-life balance and other relevant issues.  The group will also provide important information to Firm management on best practices in this area.
  
  
• The Associates Forum – Designed to provide firm-wide input and feedback to Firm management on important issues, the Associates Forum also provides relevant feedback for the Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

Other internal initiatives, policies & benefits

• Pipeline Program Partnerships – In response to the critical shortage of students of color applying to law schools and subsequently entering the legal profession, law schools and other organizations have developed programs that provide information about and exposure to the legal profession for high school, middle school and even elementary school students in inner cities.  Sheppard Mullin is pleased to be the first law firm to partner with two such law school programs – the USC Street Law Program and the Loyola Law School/Los Angeles Young Lawyers Program – by providing financial support and volunteer attorneys to work with law students and high school students in classroom and mock trial settings.
  
  
• Diversity & Inclusion Award – This initiative enables deserving Sheppard Mullin attorneys to receive recognition for leadership and sustained involvement in Firm or legal profession diversity and inclusion efforts. A financial donation is made by the Firm to a diversity-related organization in the award recipient's honor.
  
  
• Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Hours Credit – All attorneys are encouraged to become actively involved in diversity and inclusion efforts, and associates may receive up to 50 hours credit for approved leadership activities.
  
  
• Flexible Work Arrangement Policy – The policy was designed for associates requesting part-time work arrangements due to family, health or other personal reasons.
  
  
• Back-up Childcare and Eldercare – This benefit is available to both attorneys and staff.

External Diversity Initiatives

Through its attorneys, the Firm has access to a broad network of diverse lawyers and organizations as a result of their widespread participation in bar association and professional programs and activities. Some of the Firm's external activities include:

• Diversity Programs: The Firm sponsors and participates in the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, the ABA Minority Counsel Program, the ABA Commission on Women, and the California Minority Counsel Program, as well as diversity-oriented programs of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and Corporate Counsel Women of Color. Our attorneys have served as panelists at diversity programs sponsored by the ABA; Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York and other major bar associations; and other organizations.  One of our partners serves on the Lambda Legal national committee and the firm is a national sponsor of and pro bono counsel for GLAAD. The Firm's Chairman represented the firm at the 2008 Call To Action (CTA) Summit and the Firm is an inaugural member of the CTA successor, the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity. The Firm Chair also attended a major diversity summit sponsored by the ABA. A woman office managing partner was a featured speaker at a national conference on "Retaining & Developing Women Lawyers".
  
  
• Bar Associations: For many years, our attorneys have been active in the National Bar Association, Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Lambda Legal, National Lesbian & Gay Law Association, Lavender Law Job Fair, Mexican-American Bar Association, California Association of Black Lawyers, Charles Houston Bar Association, Queens Bench, Asian Law Caucus, Langston Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, and Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, among others. The San Francisco office managing partner, a woman, is a board member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, and another San Francisco attorney is a past president of the Queen's Bench. A San Diego woman partner sits on the board of the San Diego Bar Association. An Orange County woman associate is a past president of the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, another Orange County associate is on the Orange County Bar Association's Diversity Task Force, and a Los Angeles associate is on the board of the L.A. Asian Pacific American Bar Association. The Firm's Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair also serves on the Diversity Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and is the President of the Los Angeles Black Women Lawyers Foundation.
  
  
• Sponsorships: The Firm regularly sponsors the activities and initiatives of diverse law student organizations and bar associations.      
  
  Sheppard Mullin has sponsored and its attorneys have participated in events for APALSA (Asian PacificAmerican law students), BLSA (Black law students), La Raza (Hispanic law students), and OUTLaw (LGBT law students) at multiple law schools around the country. The Firm was also a sponsor of the first national conference for law students with disabilities.          
  The Firm was a sponsor of the ABA Commission on Women's first "Women of Color Research Initiative," a study of the retention of women attorneys of color in law firms.
  The Firm helped underwrite the production of the motion picture entitled "Soul of Justice: The Life and Times of Thelton Henderson." The film chronicles the life of respected African-American jurist Thelton Henderson, a crusading civil rights litigator and role model.
  
  For many years, the Firm has annually sponsored and a number of its attorneys, staff and clients have attended the Annual Lanterns Award Luncheon, a mentoring program for Los Angeles area high school girls organized jointly by the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, and the Latina Lawyers Association.
  
  The Firm has sponsored and its attorneys have been active in various community organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Inwood House, Bilingual Foundation for the Arts, Equal Rights Advocates, Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Hispanic Heritage Month, San Francisco Lawyers     Committee for Civil Rights, Jewish Hospice Project, Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) and the Arthritis Foundation.

Recognitions

• Multicultural Law magazine, which has named Sheppard Mullin as one of the "Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity" in 2010 and for six consecutive years since 2005, as well as the "Top 50 Law Firms for Partners", the "Top 100 Law Firms for Women", and the "Top 25 Law Firms for Hispanics" in 2007. In 2006, the firm was ranked similarly for associates and for disabled Americans.
  
  
• The 2010 "Diversity Scorecard" published by the Minority Law Journal, which lists Sheppard Mullin among the top 100 law firms in the country for partners and associates when it comes to diversity.  Sheppard Mullin rose in the ranks from #84 in 2009 to #69 in 2010.
  
  
• The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) 2010 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) rating of 95/100%, based on LGBT workplace benefits. Sheppard Mullin has improved its rating from 75% in 2008.
  
  
• Receiving the first Law Firm Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation for our strong commitment to the promotion of community and pro bono activities.