Wilmer Hires New Diversity Director From Boston College
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr is the latest Big Law firm to signal its commitment to diversity with an executive level hire.
September 24, 2019 at 03:10 PM
2 minute read
Tracey West, director of diversity and inclusion for Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. (Courtesy photo)
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr has hired Tracey West as its new director of diversity and inclusion from Boston College Law School, where she spent nearly 20 years and was most recently an associate dean for external relations, diversity and inclusion.
West said she was evaluating a number of different professional opportunities in the legal and corporate realm when Wilmer approached her earlier this year.
"They persuaded me of their deep commitment to diversity more than anyone else," West said.
Robert Novick, Wilmer's co-managing partner, said in a statement that the firm was looking forward to "even greater progress" on the diversity front with West leading its efforts.
"We believe the impressive breadth of Tracey's diversity and inclusion work, along with her management experience, make her the ideal person to inform and guide our firm's efforts in this important area," Novick said in a statement.
West said she found Wilmer to be transparent and forthcoming about what the firm thinks it is doing well and what it thinks it needs to do better. She said she visited the firm's offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City before coming on board. "My presence needs to be felt throughout the entire law firm," she said.
Her predecessor at Wilmer, D.C.-based Nimesh Patel, left the firm to become Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld's chief diversity and inclusion officer earlier this year.
West will continue to be based in Boston but will continue to travel to other Wilmer offices.
Other major law firms around the country are also continuing to invest in executive level positions to promote greater diversity in the profession, which remains dominated by white men, particularly at the partner level. Just last week, Foley Hoag brought in Rosa Nunez to establish its diversity and inclusion program, and IP boutique Brooks Kushman appointed shareholder Linda Mettes as chief diversity officer.
Read More
'We Have to Act Courageously': A Conversation With Law Firm Chief Diversity Executives
Winging It No Longer, Law Firms Bring in the Diversity Professionals
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Three Akin Sports Lawyers Jump to Employment Firm Littler Mendelson
Brownstein Adds Former Interior Secretary, Offering 'Strategic Counsel' During New Trump Term
2 minute read
Weil, Loading Up on More Regulatory Talent, Adds SEC Asset Management Co-Chief
3 minute readTrending Stories
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
