Robert Ruyak
Partner
At Howrey Simon Arnold & White LLP, a commitment to a diverse workforce is one of the firm’s core values, which stems in part from an understanding that recruiting, hiring, and retaining the best talent, from all sources, strengthens the firm and underlies its success.
Howrey’s percentage of minority new hires has doubled in the past three years, increasing from 14 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2003. Women new hires have increased from 45 percent in 2000 to 50 percent in 2003. In addition, the percentage of minority partners in the D.C. area has risen to seven percent of all partners.
The firm’s commitment to leadership and excellence encompasses its commitment to diversity. Howrey has therefore undertaken a proactive approach to diversity. With the full support of the firm’s leadership, a diversity task force examined Howrey’s diversity statistics and developed recommendations concerning recruitment, retention, business development, marketing, external legal programs, and internal firm activities.
Based on these recommendations, Howrey concentrated its efforts in the area of recruiting. The firm’s recruitment committee identified and actively pursued minority and women candidates for the firm’s summer associate Bootcamp program. Those efforts paid off. Howrey’s 2003 Bootcamp program achieved a class that was 30 percent minority and 50 percent women.
To address retention, the firm launched a firmwide attorney advisory program to address mentoring for all of the firm’s lawyers. The program links experienced attorneys who are named advisors to junior lawyers. The goal is to help young attorneys formulate professional plans that are essential for success.
The firm’s Diversity Committee has been an asset to Howrey’s efforts. The committee, which is a subcommittee of the firm’s Attorney Development Committee, maintains responsibility for developing and supervising the firm’s diversity practices and policies. The committee seeks to ensure that the firm’s diversity goals are met and that all attorneys have an opportunity to succeed and advance. Each subcommittee is charged with developing action plans to advance the firm’s diversity efforts.
Howrey believes that as a global leader in legal services, the firm’s employees should reflect the diversity of its customers and the environments in which the firm operates. Its diversity initiative embodies a renewed and aggressive approach for the development and implementation of the firm’s diversity practices and policies to ensure that diversity goals are accomplished.
From the November/December 2003 issue of Diversity & The Bar®