MCCA Honors Ropes & Gray LLP as Sager Award Winner

Minority Corporate Counsel Association Honors Ropes & Gray LLP as Sager Award Winner

Washington, D.C. – The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) honored Ropes & Gray LLP with its prestigious Thomas L. Sager Award for the Northeast Region on September 10, 2012.  The presentation took place during the luncheon at MCCA’s 13th Annual Creating Pathways to Diversity® Conference held at Marriott Marquis, in New York City.  Accepting the award on behalf of Ropes & Gray was Gene W. Lee, Partner.

The Thomas L. Sager Award is given to law firms that demonstrate sustained commitment to improving the hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys.  It is named for MCCA board member and DuPont Company Senior Vice President and General Counsel Thomas L. Sager.  It is presented to five outstanding law firms during the year.

Ropes & Gray LLP received the award for educational programs within the firm’s community through resources such as the attorney of color group, LGBT forum, women’s forum, and a professional development department.  The firm also received a 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality index for four straight years.  Percentages of diverse attorneys went up every year for the past three years.

Two other law firms were recognized as finalists during the Regional Network Forum:

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom LLP was honored for sustaining a solid infrastructure that equips its attorneys to incorporate their commitment to diversity and inclusion organically into the regular course of its business as a law firm.  The firm’s investment in diversity and inclusion education seminars helps the lawyers and staff increase awareness and address issues such as unconscious bias and cross cultural competency in order to foster an inclusive environment.

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP was recognized for being the first New York based law firm to institute a firm-wide diversity training program and a formal diversity policy.  Weil was also one of the first law firms to develop affinity groups to provide a forum for women, racial and ethnic minorities, and LGBT attorneys to network and grow.

“MCCA is pleased to acknowledge Ropes & Gray LLP with the Thomas L. Sager Award,” said Joseph K. West, MCCA President and CEO. “The firm has gone beyond ‘having a diversity program’ by working to make inclusion part of its daily culture. Everyone is encouraged and enabled to work up to their full potential. This is an example the entire legal industry would do well to follow.”

The mission of the Minority Corporate Counsel Association is to advance the hiring, retention, and promotion of diverse attorneys in legal departments and the law firms that serve them. MCCA furthers its mission by publishing research on achieving diversity and best practices in the legal profession, honoring innovative diversity programs with its Employer of Choice and Thomas L. Sager awards, and assisting diverse law students through the Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program. MCCA’s work has been recognized with awards from the National Minority Business Council, Inc., the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Gay and Lesbian Law Association, and the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Founded in 1997, MCCA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and also has a southeast regional office in Atlanta, Ga. For more information, go to mcca.com.