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Overview
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History
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Pro Bono
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Women@Sidley
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Achievements
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Offices
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Diversity
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Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
Sidley is one of the staunchest proponents of law firm diversity and inclusion and has been a pioneer in creating opportunities for lawyers of all backgrounds, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, or beliefs.
Our mission is to attract, retain and promote to partnership and leadership outstanding lawyers who reflect the global marketplace and communities that we serve. We are committed to achieving greater diversity and inclusivity, not just for our firm but for the legal profession as a whole.
Catherine Valerio Barrad, Los Angeles partner;
Walter Carlson, Chicago partner and Executive Committee member;
Carlos Rodriguez, New York partner and Executive Committee member; and
Stanley Stallworth, Chicago partner, and serve as firm-wide co-chairs of our Diversity Committee.
History of our Diversity Initiative
In 1998, Sidley’s management team comprehensively reviewed the firm’s lawyer development and promotion system. As part of this review, we formed separate task forces on issues affecting women and ethnically and racially diverse lawyers. In 2001, the task forces became permanent firm administrative committees. The firm’s leadership, understanding that gender and race issues are sometimes distinct, created two separate committees: the
Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women (Women’s Committee) and the Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. In 2006, the latter changed its name to the Diversity Committee, underscoring its commitment to address a wider variety of diversity and inclusion issues, including those affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) lawyers.
The Women’s Committee and the Diversity Committee are effective, in part, because they work together, as well as with other firm committees. In particular, by working closely with the Committee on Assignment and Compensation of Associates, the Associate Training and Development Committee, the Recruiting Committee and the Summer Associate Committee, we help to ensure that Sidley continues to recruit, retain and promote outstanding lawyers from diverse backgrounds.
Hiring and Retention
Sidley’s pioneering and innovative recruitment efforts demonstrate a commitment to increasing the number and breadth of diversity of the lawyers in the firm.
In 2006, we launched the Sidley Prelaw Scholars Initiative,
the first program of its kind among U.S. law firms. Designed to address the recent decline in diverse enrollment in law schools, our program grants financial support for diverse college juniors and seniors who demonstrate academic promise and have financial needs that inhibit their legal career aspirations. Scholars receive an initial award to cover tuition for a Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) preparation course, LSAT registration fees and application fees for up to seven accredited law schools. Upon completing the course and law school applications, Scholars receive an additional scholarship award during their last year of college. They also receive coaching on law school application preparation. The summer before law school matriculation, Sidley Scholars receive instruction on the structure of the American legal system and an introduction to first-year common law courses.
Since 2010, Sidley’s Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship has provided annual scholarships to second-year law students who accept offers to join the Sidley Summer Program. These students demonstrate academic achievement and leadership qualities, as well as the ability to contribute meaningfully to the diversity of their law schools and the legal profession.
Sidley regularly participates in law school diversity recruitment conferences and regional job fairs, as well as recruits at schools with diverse student bodies. We are also active at the local-chapter level of law school minority groups. Sidley lawyers assist student leaders with organizing events, and present at seminars on resume building and interview skills. Our lawyers are also involved in pipeline activities at the high school and college levels. These include Just The Beginning Foundation, which is dedicated to nurturing an interest in law among young people from various socioeconomic, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds underrepresented in the legal profession.
The Diversity Committee also focuses on helping diverse associates thrive at the firm and in the profession. The chairs of the Diversity Committee confidentially track the monthly hours and semiannual review reports for diverse associates and meet with a representative of the Assignment and Compensation Committee to discuss ways to further those associates’ progress. “Tips for Success” programs, annual diversity and inclusion town halls, attention to work allocation, and social and educational events also support the progress of the firm’s diverse associates. Associate diversity and inclusion councils provide additional programming, support and feedback to firm management. The Diversity Committee oversees an enhanced mentoring program that pairs diverse associates with senior partners in their practice areas for coaching, skill-building, and client relationship development purposes.
Sidley’s commitment to diversity and inclusion extends to issues affecting the LGBT communities. Sidley was one of the first large law firms to grant parity in healthcare, leave and other employee benefits for same-sex domestic partners. Our non-discrimination policy forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and, in 2007, was amended to explicitly name “gender identity and expression” as a protected category. Openly LGBT lawyers practice in each of the firm’s domestic offices, serve on the firm’s leadership and administrative committees and are members of such legal organizations as the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, Lambda Legal and Equality Illinois. Sidley performed all the legal work pro bono for Gay Games VII, held in Chicago in 2006. More recently, Sidley’s commitment to LGBT equality was recognized by the Human Rights Campaign, which gave the firm a “perfect” (100) score on its 2012 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report. The firm has received perfect scores on each CEI report since 2008.
The Diversity Committee’s “sister,” the Committee on Retention and Promotion of Women, is uniquely comprehensive in its multi-pronged approach to retaining women lawyers, promoting women associates to partnership and advancing women partners to positions of leadership within the firm. Its key programs include: tips for success for summer associates and first-year lawyers; women’s mentoring circles that provide a network for support and learning; work/life programs that support lawyers with family obligations; and a strong reduced-hours policy for lawyers at all levels. Read more about this Committee’s
work.
Diversity and Inclusion in the Legal Community
Our efforts extend far beyond the firm's doorway. In Chicago, the firm has helped form and lead bar and community groups such as the Chicago Committee on Minorities in Large Law Firms. The Chicago Committee assists law firms in developing strategies to identify, recruit, hire, retain and promote diverse lawyers to partnership. It also serves as a support group for diverse lawyers. Sidley also participates in the Cook County Bar Association (CCBA) mentoring program and has hosted its kick-off reception. CCBA is the oldest African-American bar association in America.
Sidley was one of the first large firms invited to participate in the Minority Counsel Demonstration Project, established by the American Bar Association's Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession. The firm participated in drafting, and is one of the original signatories to, the Statement of Diversity Principles adopted by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in 2003. We are also signatories to the 2005 Statement of Goals and Principles on Minority Hiring, Retention and Promotion issued by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
Sidley also contributes to, or participates in, law-related organizations that support minority and LGBT lawyers and law students.
- The firm funds an annual scholarship for a law school student in partnership with the Hispanic Lawyers Association of Illinois.
- In honor of Wiley A. Branton, former dean of the Howard Law School and our partner until his untimely death, Sidley has established an annual scholarship for the Howard law student who achieves the highest grade point average in the first year.
- We support the Ronald Kennedy Fellowship program at the Northwestern University School of Law, which provides scholarships and employment opportunities for diverse law students.
- One of our African-American partners chaired the Dean's Advisory Committee on Community and Diversity at Northwestern University School of Law. This Committee examined, among other responsibilities, issues facing diverse law students at Northwestern.
- Sidley has donated to Lambda Legal, a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBT people and those with HIV, through impact litigation, education and public policy work.
- Our London office sponsors the Windsor Fellowship Programme, which helps diverse undergraduates become future leaders in industry. The charity selects students with a strong academic record and supports them in a two-year leadership and development program.
- At a firm-sponsored commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, Sidley awarded scholarships to outstanding diverse students from Illinois law schools.
- In March 2004, the firm established a chair at Howard to support the law school’s lecture series on diversity matters.
Diversity in the Wider Community
- We work to increase and regularly track the firm’s use of women and minority-owned businesses as part of our commitment to supplier diversity.
- We support the college aspirations of racially diverse high school students from Cristo Rey Network Schools in New York and Chicago by participating in the schools’ internship programs.
- For over 25 years, the firm’s Chicago office has “adopted” the Gerald Delgado Kanoon Magnet Elementary School, the student body of which is 99 percent Hispanic and predominantly economically disadvantaged. The firm organizes clothing, school supply, and holiday food drives to support the children of this community.
- The firm encourages its lawyers to become affiliated with minority and ethnic bar associations and underwrites membership dues for those groups. A number of our lawyers are active in the work of these groups or fill leadership positions on their boards of directors.
- Since 2002, our New York office has participated in the Justice Resource Center’s MENTOR program, in which the firm is paired with the High School for Leadership and Public Service, a public New York City high school where most students are racially and ethnically diverse. Our lawyers mentor and coach participating students who compete in state-wide Moot Court and Mock Trial competitions. The firm also provides summer employment for at least two of these students each year.
- Similarly, in Los Angeles, the firm has established an educational partnership with Dorsey High School’s Law Magnet Program to interest high school students in the legal profession.
Recent Awards and Recognition
In February, 2012, Sidley was awarded the first-ever "
Chambers USA Women in Law Awards 2012: Most Innovative Gender Diversity Initiative," based on the firm’s comprehensive multi-faceted approach to supporting women in the development of their legal careers.
Sidley was recognized by Yale Law Women as one of their "Top Ten Family Friendly Firms," a list of law firms that are leaders in developing and practicing family friendly policies. Sidley is one of four law firms to appear on the 2009, 2010 and 2011 lists.
Sidley received a “perfect” 100 score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2012 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report. The firm was also named to Human Rights Campaign’s annual list of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality,” a distinction awarded to businesses that scored 100 percent on the CEI report. The CEI evaluates companies based on their policies and programs that provide parity and support for their LGBT employees, including non-discrimination policies, diversity training, and benefits for domestic partners and transgender employees. Sidley has received perfect scores each year since 2008.
Sidley was named to Equality Illinois’ 2010 list of the 10 most “LGBT-friendly” law firms doing business in Illinois, in recognition of the firm’s achievements toward LGBT workplace equality. Equality Illinois is the state’s largest organization advocating for full equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
Sidley was named by the National Association for Female Executives (NAFE) and Flex-Time Lawyers as a 2011 Best Law Firm for Women. Sidley is among the 50 winning law firms praised for their continued attention to work/life and women’s issues and for their use of flex-time, reduced-hour and other family-friendly policies to ensure the future success of the profession. Sidley has received this honor every year of the survey since the list’s inception.
Sidley was awarded Gold Certification by the 2011 Women in Law Empowerment Forum, a designation for firms that have integrated women into top leadership positions and compensated them well.
In recognition of our firmwide diversity initiative, Sidley is one of just three law firms to receive the Catalyst Award, given by Catalyst, the leading research and advisory organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for women in business.
Sidley was recognized with an award for recruiting and attracting talent from diverse backgrounds at the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) UK Diversity Legal Awards 2011 ceremony. These national industry awards recognize the work of those organizations and individuals who are making significant contributions in the area of promoting diversity within, and equality of access into, the legal profession.
Sidley received an Honorable Mention for the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s 2004 Western Region Thomas L. Sager Award and was the winner of the Thomas L. Sager Award for 2003 and 1991, which recognizes law firms that have demonstrated a sustained commitment to improve the hiring, retention and promotion of minority lawyers.
For more information, contact , Chief Diversity Officer, at 312.456.4250.