Crowell & Moring has released its “Diversity & Inclusion Report,” which highlights a number of the firm’s diversity and inclusion successes and initiatives throughout the past year.

Thirty percent target

The report details a number of the programs that the firm has implemented in order to ensure that it offers a welcoming and inclusive workplace to employees of all backgrounds, including sponsorship programs that invest in the professional development and success of female and diverse attorneys, strategic initiatives that help recruit, retain, and promote female and diverse lawyers, and the firm’s adoption of the Mansfield Rule 2.0 initiative. The report features programs and initiatives completed in 2018 and previews some of the efforts underway this year. The report shares how the firm joined the Mansfield Rule 2.0 initiative in 2018, which challenges law firms to affirmatively consider at least 30 percent women lawyers, LGBTQ+ attorneys, and lawyers of color for leadership and governance roles, equity partner promotions, and senior lateral attorney hires.

Not declaring victory

“Crowell & Moring was founded four decades ago in an era when large law firms regrettably featured virtually no gender, racial, or ethnic diversity,” wrote Crowell & Moring chair Philip T Inglima in the report’s opening message. “We are proud to have made both symbolic and substantive progress in that regard. Yet, we know that increasing diversity within the profession and our firm over the past 40 years has been too modest for anyone to declare victory... We will continue exploring and embracing innovations and approaches that will ensure Crowell & Moring becomes the very best it can be by improving diversity and inclusiveness in our workplace.” Don Smith, senior director of talent & inclusion and a member of the Diversity Council, said “As we look ahead, we will be advancing many of the programs detailed in our report, and we anticipate developing new initiatives that are as innovative as the people who make up our firm.”