Two New York Law Firms Win Sager Award Honors
Winston & Strawn and Davis, Polk & Wardwell are honored for sustained commitment to diversity
Robert Bostrum of Winston & Strawn accepts Sager Award from Anastasia Kelly, Sears, Roebuck & Co. General Counsel
The Minority Corporate Counsel Association held its final 1999 MCCA/American Lawyer Media Diversity 2000 Dinner last October in New York. There, the organization presented the Sager Award for Diversity in the Legal Profession to two of New York's finest law firms, Winston & Strawn and Davis, Polk & Wardwell, for implementing policies and practices that have made them among the leaders in hiring, promoting and retaining minority attorneys.
The Sager Award honors DuPont Corp's associate general counsel Thomas Sager, who has been a driving force for improving the hiring, retention, promotion and involvement of minority lawyers. Sager's participation in DuPont's nationally recognized effort to re-engineer its legal function set him apart as a visionary who created a strategy of law firms and in-house counsel working together to implement best practices that encourage diversity.
To be considered for the Sager Award, law firms submitted a summary of their accomplishments in the three key areas of recruitment, retention and promotion of people of color to the MCCA Awards Selection Committee. The committee examines the strengths of each law firm's diversity efforts and also factors in any collaborative efforts with the local community and bar associations.
Generally, winning firms have demonstrated some of the following best practices that have allowed them to achieve their success: The firm has a diversity committee made up of senior management and minority attorneys to discuss the needs of minority lawyers; The firm establishes a recruiting program that includes minority recruiting fairs and activities at minority law schools; The firm shows a commitment to hiring and promoting minorities in a manner that consistently increases the number of minority attorneys at the firm; and the firm provides incentives for supervisors to learn how to be better mentors to minority associates.
Here is a more detailed assessment of the accomplishments of the Sager Award winners from New York:
Davis, Polk & Wardwell
Since initiating diversity programs more than 10 years ago, Davis, Polk & Wardwell has consistently improved its efforts to help minority attorneys succeed. What makes this firm's commitment to diversity exceptional is that their diversity hiring programs start in high school, cultivation potential minority hires before they even reach law school. The firm hires 3 to 4 future minority law students during the summer and serves as mentors and tutors 30 to 40 students from Brooklyn's Bushwick High School each year.
Chris Mayer of Davis, Polk & Wardwell accepts Sager Award.
Throughout the year, the firm also recruits at more than 30 law schools and job fairs, with special emphasis on identifying minority candidates. Part of the recruitment program involves sponsoring activities for various African American, Hispanic and Asian student organizations.
After minority candidates are hired, Davis Polk has a mentoring program that encourages strong relationships between associates and senior level lawyers. The firm also interacts regularly with local bar associations and minority organizations to develop professional relationships for the future.
"More than 10 years ago, a group of my partners sat down with the minority lawyers that we had at Davis Polk to talk to them about what worked and what did not work at Davis Polk," says Chris Mayer when talks about the benefits of diversity. "As a result of those efforts, we have developed a number of initiatives that have led to an improved law firm, not only for minorities, but for all lawyers."
Winston & Strawn
Winston & Strawn has implemented a number of programs in recent years that have achieved measurable results in the hiring, retention and promotion of women attorneys and attorneys of color. The firm is committed to the belief that a diverse workforce is important to maintaining positive morale and high productivity in the workplace.
Two years ago, Winston & Strawn implemented a women's initiative, and after its mission began to broaden, the firm turned it into a broad-based diversity initiative. The program included the immediate diversification of the firm's key policy-setting committees, such as the hiring and retention committee. The firm also encouraged and created training, mentoring and orientation programs as well as encouraging minority and women attorneys to participate in organizations that promote diversity. The firm even began evaluating its partners on their ability to advance diversity initiatives at the firm and began providing its clients with regular reports on the success of its diversity initiatives. The firm's efforts to improve diversity were rewarded with an increase in the percentage of women and minority capital partners from 11% to 22% over a six month period from January 1999 to June 1999.
Reaffirming his law firm's commitment to diversity, Robert Bostrom of Winston & Strawn says, "Not only is it the right thing to do, but it really is good for business. In a rapidly changing multicultural world, it really is critical that we reflect the world we live in, work in and the clients we provide services to. In that respect, it's critical that our partners, associates and all the folks that work at our firm represent—in a culturally diverse sense—that multicultural world we live and work in."
Davis, Polk & Wardwell and Winston & Strawn are proving that with some commitment, all law firms can begin to make an organized shift toward diversity that can lead to financial benefits for a law firm. With evidence mounting that diversity is becoming a necessity in the marketplace, other firms may want to examine strategies that can help diversity work for them.
From the March 2000 issue of Diversity & The Bar®