What are your proudest accomplishments in the area of diversity and inclusion in law? I initially developed the program for Stroock’s affinity groups. I looked at them as a way to bring commonality and more awareness. The groups got started on their own and are deliberately chaired or co-chaired by attorneys who are not yet partners, with the idea to have something for everyone. The underlying theme here for me is always in creating a community, a community where everyone feels comfortable. That helps work/life balance, and it also, candidly, helps retention.

Additionally, a few years ago we noticed there was a lot of activity in the diversity space by diverse attorneys, and we asked if that was an undue burden. We came up with the idea for DEI activities to qualify as billable hours. So instead of treating them as pro bono hours, which don’t always count toward billable hours, we treated them as billable, for up to 50 hours. This recognition by the firm was very important, so important that even if there is not a dollar amount tied to it, we’re going to treat it as though there is.

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