MCCA Honors Schiff Hardin LLP as Sager Award Winner

Minority Corporate Counsel Association Honors Schiff Hardin LLP as Sager Award Winner

Washington, D.C. – The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) honored Schiff Hardin LLP with its prestigious Thomas L. Sager Award for the Midwest Region on March 20, 2012. The presentation took place at the Chicago Marriott Downtown and was attended by 300 people. Accepting the award on behalf of Schiff Hardin LLP was Ronald Safer, Managing Partner, from the Chicago office.

Schiff Hardin LLP received the award for:

• • The firm’s marquee event, called “Passport to Schiff Hardin,” a recruiting reception in which diverse first-year law students from local law schools are invited to its offices to meet attorneys at the firm and explore practice areas.
  • 36.8 percent of 2011 new hires at the firm were women or minorities, up from 20 percent minority of new hires in 2010, and from zero in 2009, when the firm did not hire anyone.
  • Currently, 27 percent of the firm’s associates are minority and 54 percent are women.

One other law firm was recognized as a finalist during the Regional Network Forum. Winston & Strawn LLP was runner up for:

• Its Diversity Charter, which outlines the firm’s commitment to achieving greater diversity in hiring, recruitment and retention and promoting diversity on the basis of merit and performance.
• 33 minority attorneys were hired in 2011, up from six in 2009. The firm also hired 80 women attorneys in 2011, up from 27 in 2009.

“MCCA is pleased to acknowledge Schiff Hardin LLP with the Thomas L. Sager Award,” said Joseph K. West, MCCA President and CEO. “They have gone beyond ‘having a diversity program’ by working to make inclusion part of their 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 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 outstanding law firms at four Regional Networking Forums during the year.

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.