H. Ron White,
Managing Partner
Adorno & Yoss, LLP, is the largest certified minority-owned law firm in the United States. It offers a full range of legal services across the country and in Latin America.
This firm knows how to embrace diversity. It has grown from three attorneys in 1986 to more than 250 attorneys nationwide today. Adorno & Yoss has built its reputation on the diverse backgrounds and talents of its attorneys, and the composition of the firm closely matches the demographics of the communities it serves.
Cathy Lamboley, General Counsel, Shell Oil Company (ret), and H. Ron White, Managing Partner, Dallas office of Adorno & Yoss. “For years, Adorno & Yoss has understood the importance of being a diverse firm with first-class lawyers. It is imperative in order to best serve our clients,” said Hank Adorno, CEO and President of Adorno & Yoss. “For other firms, diversity is a goal—for us, it’s a reality.”
The firm’s south/southwest offices have impressive numbers. More than 50 percent of the associates are minorities, and nearly 40 percent are women. Thirty percent of the equity partners in these offices are minorities and 16 percent are women.
One of Adorno & Yoss’s pioneering diversity strategies is active participation in three networks. It is a founding member of The National Minority Law Group (NMLG).
NMLG membership is granted after a rigorous due diligence process, which includes review of client and judicial references as well as vetting of practice management standards and client service protocols. NMLG relies on a state-of-the-art technology platform to provide its members and their clients with all the benefits, accoutrements, and economies of scale that clients expect of national law firms.
Adorno & Yoss is also a founding member and the managing director of The Law Firm of the Americas, an association of independent law firms providing high-quality legal services to clients in the Western Hemisphere, Spain, and Portugal. In addition, it is a commercial city member of the State Capital Global Law Firm Group, which offers a unique knowledge of state legislatures and regulatory agencies.
Other innovative practices at the firm include the firm’s associate mentoring and development program and flex-time programs to promote work/life balance.
Adorno & Yoss has been recognized as the only law firm member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s Corporate Plus group, the highest designation for minority business enterprises that have successfully handled national contracts for major corporations. It has been ranked in the top 300 law firms in the country according to American Lawyer’s rankings, and Hispanic Magazine ranked the firm the 106th largest Hispanic-owned business in the nation (including manufacturing). The 2007 award marks the second time that Adorno & Yoss has received the Thomas L. Sager Award for the South/Southwest Region. It first received the award in 2005.
From the November/December 2007 issue of Diversity & The Bar®