Phil Garon
Partner
The diversity commitment at the law firm of Faegre & Benson LLP commensurates with its size and scope: With more than 450 lawyers, it is the second-largest law firm in Minnesota, one of the largest firms in the Rocky Mountain region, and one of the 100 largest law firms in the U.S., with offices in Colorado, Iowa, London, Frankfurt, and Shanghai.
The firm has an 11-person Diversity Committee made up of partners, associates, and administrators who reflect the diversity of the firm. Led by Diversity Partner Charlie Ferrell, the committee regularly designs, implements, and evaluates diversity-related initiatives. Within the partnership, minorities are 4 percent and women are 23 percent of all equity partners. Twenty-five percent of all new hires were minorities and 55 percent were women. Half of all lawyers hired in the last three years have been women; indeed, the firm has among the highest percentage of women lawyers of any major law firm in Minnesota or Colorado.
The firm's diversity initiatives are impressive in number and scope. Phil Garon, a principal driver of the firm's diversity efforts during his three-year term as chairman of the firm, accepted the Sager Award on behalf of the firm. Faegre & Benson annually contributes to scholarship funds for minority students, and was a sponsor of the annual conference of Rainbow Families, a nonprofit organization that supports and provides resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender families. It gives financial and other support to organizations advancing diversity, including the Minnesota Minority Lawyers Association, Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Minnesota Minority Recruitment Conference, the Southeastern Minority Job Fair, and the Metropolitan Economic Development Association.
(L to R): Hinton Luca, Dupont; Veta Richardson, MCCA; Phil Garon, Faegre & Benson LLP; and Michael Gibeault, LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
To embrace diversity in all of its forms, the firm welcomes and encourages women, persons of color and diverse ethnic backgrounds, and gays and lesbians. This support is achieved through a nationwide recruiting program, internal policies and procedures, financial support and involvement in organizations that promote diversity, and special educational events and panel discussions for lawyers and clients.
On an individual level, Faegre & Benson's lawyers have been leaders of and active in the Twin Cities Committee on Minority Lawyers in Large Law Firms, the Minnesota Chapter of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the University of Minnesota Law School Minority Mentor Program, the Minnesota and Colorado Minority Corporate Counsel Program, the Sam Cary Bar Association in Colorado, the Young Lawyers Division of the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association, and the Colorado Asian Pacific Bar Association.
Faegre & Benson, one of DuPont's primary law firms, has also been active in DuPont's diversity initiatives-including the annual DuPont Minority Counsel Conference, and the Conference on Women and the Practice of Law-which are widely recognized throughout the legal profession.
In recognition of its diversity efforts, the firm was named by the Women's Vision Foundation as its "Corporate Advocate of the Year" in Colorado, and received an award from the Minnesota Minority Supplier Development Council for outstanding contributions to the development of Certified Minority Business Enterprises.
From the November/December 2004 issue of Diversity & The Bar®