Since the firm's earliest years, Ropes & Gray has welcomed people based on their abilities not their backgrounds. Our first Jewish lawyer, Abe Berkowitz, was hired 100 years ago in 1907, long before other large law firms opened their doors to Jewish lawyers. In 1942, well before women were welcome in the practice of law, especially at a large law firm, Ropes & Gray hired its first women associates, Mary Lennon and Blanche Quaid. Unlike most of the few women who entered the profession during World War II, Mary and Blanche remained as lawyers with the firm after the war ended. Ropes & Gray is proud to have been a step ahead of firm practices at the time. The precedent we set long ago created the foundation for our now well-established values of embracing and encompassing all races, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and family structures. As a nationally operating global law firm, diversity is an integral part of our firm-wide focus across all of our offices.

Ropes & Gray has consistently been recognized as being among the nation’s leading law firms in the area of diversity overall, as well as with respect to minorities, gays, lesbians, and women.

Ropes & Gray earned the top rating of 100 percent in the 2009 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), an annual survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. The HRCF survey gave Ropes & Gray the highest possible rating based on our non-discrimination and other policies aimed at making the firm a welcoming workplace for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.  Also, in 2008, we were recognized for the fourth year in a row by MultiCultural Law Magazine as one of the top 100 Law Firms for Diversity and for Women.

Other recent recognition includes “Top Twenty” rankings by Vault.com in its surveys of the 150 most prestigious law firms in the country in:

• “Best in Diversity” (2004 – 2007)
• “Diversity With Respect to Minorities”  (2004 – 2007)
• “Diversity With Respect to Women”  (2004, 2005, 2007)
• “Diversity With Respect to Gays & Lesbians” (2004 – 2007)
  

David Fine, Chair of the Diversity Committee, is a partner in the Corporate Department and is a member of our Securities Law group.

Affinity Groups/Forums
The firm offers educational and professional development programs through various diversity forums. These include the Women's Forum, the Attorneys of Color Group and the Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/ Transgender Forum. These forums help ensure that we afford the type of collegial and collaborative work environment that long has been, and continues to be, a hallmark of our success as a firm. Mentoring programs and educational and support activities that reach out to all members of the firm are also offered through these forums.

The Women’s Forum
In 1996, the firm established the Women’s Forum to provide a formal structure for women lawyers to consider matters of common interest, to offer opportunities for mutual support and community, and to generally assist in professional development and progress at the firm. The Women’s Forum sponsors educational programs designed to help women lawyers manage their careers, augment their skills and deal with professional and personal issues. The firm has also launched the Impact program, designed for associates and counsel who need to adjust their work arrangements for family, health or similar reasons. It offers a flexible framework for building a long and fulfilling career that can include an alternative (reduced) time commitment for a short or long period, flexible approach to working off-site and to managing the traditional work day to accommodate childcare and other responsibilities, a different pace to partnership, or some combination of these.

The Attorneys of Color (AOC) Group
The AOC Group conducts quarterly meetings and holds special events (including two firm-wide, in-person social events) intended to provide opportunities for the firm’s attorneys of color to share their unique experiences within the firm and ensure that attorneys of color feel welcomed and supported at Ropes & Gray. Through its Full Circle Mentoring Program, seasoned attorneys at Ropes & Gray get together with newer attorneys for informal meetings to discuss any questions or concerns their younger colleagues may have. The program is intended to allow attorneys of color to connect with each other on a regular basis.

In 2008, the firm implemented the AOC Leadership Program. The program, sponsored by the Attorneys of Color (AOC) Group, seeks to achieve even greater levels of career development and satisfaction for partners and associates. Offered in all Ropes & Gray offices and spanning six months, participants attend three peer-networking sessions and six interactive training modules led by professionals from The Partnership, Inc. Ropes & Gray has also long been an active supporter of The Partnership, a nonprofit organization whose mission, in part, is to attract and retain young professionals of color. We also participate in The Partnership’s fellowship program, a program designed to introduce young lawyers to the corporate, civic, arts, and other aspects of Boston city life.

The Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender Lawyers (GLBT) Forum
The GLBT Forum is active in welcoming GLBT attorneys to the firm and providing ongoing coordination and support regarding issues important to the GLBT community. The Forum works to attract notable individuals to the firm to speak on important topics, and holds special events for associates and summer associates. In addition, Ropes & Gray is active in sponsoring programs and events in which GLBT personnel participate.

Programs and Events

Pathways to Success Symposium
The Diversity Committee, joined by Attorney Development, presented the Pathways to Success symposium to the firm. The symposium offered associates a candid discussion by a diverse panel of Ropes & Gray partners of the highs, lows, triumphs, and obstacles they have experienced over the course of their legal careers. Following the symposium, several panelists and additional firm partners facilitated dinner conversations with associates in all our office locations in order to continue the discussion in a social setting.

Women’s Forum Speaker Series

Valerie Plame Wilson
The Women's Forum hosted the former CIA covert officer Valerie Plame Wilson whose then-classified identity was leaked to the press in 2003. In what became known as the Plame Affair, investigations, charges and countercharges led to the indictment of a high-ranking White House official and Plame's resignation from the CIA. Her autobiography, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, published on October 22, 2007, chronicles the controversy and its legacy. Valerie presented excerpts from her book, and participated in a Q&A session and book signing.

Valerie Plame Wilson, seated center, is pictured with some of the members of our Women's Forum, after a recent event where she spoke about her autobiography.

Dr. Sarah Weddington
The Women's Forum hosted Dr. Sarah Weddington, the attorney who argued Roe v. Wade before the US Supreme Court. Dr. Weddington gave a captivating presentation on her experience handling this landmark case. As one of the relatively few female attorneys at the time, she took the case on a pro bono basis never imagining it would lead her to the Supreme Court.

The Massachusetts Lesbian & Gay Bar Association (MLGBA) Law Students' Reception
Ropes & Gray sponsored and co-hosted with the Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the Massachusetts Lesbian and Gay Bar Association (MLGBA) Annual Law Students' Reception. This event featured guest speaker Carol Rose, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Massachusetts. According to the MLGBA, this gathering accounted for the largest attendance at any of the law school receptions hosted by the organization.

GLBT Forum Speaker Series – Susan Sommer
The Diversity Committee welcomed Susan Sommer, senior counsel of Lambda Legal, for a discussion on "Marriage Equality in New York: What Happens? What Happened Next?" Ms. Sommer served as lead counsel in Hernandez v. Robles, which sought the right for same-sex couples to marry in New York. She discussed the impact of the New York Court of Appeals holding that the New York state constitution is not violated by restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Diversity Workshops
Throughout the year, Ropes & Gray offers workshops focused on diversity issues to attorneys and staff. The workshops create a forum in which to discuss and understand the many definitions of diversity and inclusion, and the impact that diversity issues can have on the workplace.

The Partnership
The Partnership is an initiative designed to help firms attract and retain young professionals of color (including African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans) in the Boston area. Its vision is to help bring about an influential and highly visible community of color within the economic, political, and social fabric of Boston. Ropes & Gray participates in the Partnership's annual fellowship program.

Amanda Austin: "The Partnership has allowed me to become more connected to Boston’s professional minority community and to develop skills related to teamwork, leadership and self-assessment. Universal and important themes emerged in the open dialogue group discussions, and lessons learned during my time in the Partnership will be useful during the course of my legal career."

Giselle Joffre: "Through the leadership training at the Partnership program, I gained a greater sense of self-awareness. It afforded me the opportunity to evaluate my strengths and weaknesses, and solidify concrete career goals. It was especially rewarding to exchange ideas and advice with the diverse group of co-participants consisting of professionals of color from different industries."

Trent Hankins Award for Outstanding Contributions to Diversity

Our beloved colleague Trent Hankins (Yale Law School '96) tragically passed away in December 2002 at the age of 31. Among his innumerable contributions to Ropes & Gray during his six years with the firm, Trent was a tireless supporter of and contributor to the firm's commitment to diversity, acting as a leader of the Attorneys of Color Group and as one of Ropes & Gray's representatives on the Boston Lawyers Group's Associate Advisory Committee.

In March 2003, the firm announced that the Trent Hankins Award for Outstanding Contributions to Diversity would be given each year to one or more of the firm’s lawyers for their outstanding contributions to the firm's diversity efforts. At the firm's fifith annual awards ceremony on July 22, 2008, Hemmie Chang was presented with the award for her strong contributions to the firm's recruiting and mentoring efforts and organizational abilities that are the backbone of those activities.

Past winners:
2007 – Rajib Chanda
2006 – Joan McPhee
2005 – Pedro Sandoval
2004 – Roscoe Trimmier, Jr.

David Fine, Chair of the Diversity Committee, presents the 2008 Trent Hankins Award to partner Hemmie Chang.

At the firm’s fourth annual awards ceremony on June 5, 2007, Rajib Chanda won the award for being the driving force behind strategies to entice candidates of color to come spend their 2L summer at Ropes & Gray.

David Fine, Chair of the Diversity Committee, congratulates partner Joan McPhee, the 2006 winner of the Trent Hankins Award for her outstanding contributions to diversity. Joan, now a member of the firm's Policy Committee, was the founding Chair of the Diversity Committee and served in that role for many years.

Ropes & Gray Diversity Committee Members
David Fine, Chair
Albert F. Cacozza, Co-Chair
Gene Lee, Co-Chair
Sasha Rao, Co-Chair
John T. Montgomery, Policy Committee Liaison
Dennis Coleman
Lisa Colby Crawford
Susan M. Galli
Winifred I. Li
David M. Mandel
Diane B. Patrick
Loretta R. Richard
Hugh Simons
Katie M. Doran, Diversity Committee Liaison