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Diversity Chair |
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| Diversity Chair Prefix | Ms. |
| Diversity Chair First Name | Angela |
| Diversity Chair Last Name | James |
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Diversity Contact Information |
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| Diversity Contact Prefix | |
| Diversity Contact First Name | |
| Diversity Contact Last Name | |
| Link to your organization's diversity website | |
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Recruitment methods |
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| Which of the following methods do you use to increase the presence and retention of under-represented groups? (Check all that apply) |
Diversity job fairs Outreach to law student groups Formal mentoring efforts Recruit at schools with large minority populations Bar-sponsored programs Firm diversity committee Recruit at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) |
| Comments |
Diversity and inclusion are core values of Alston & Bird and part of the firm’s strategic plan. We believe that a diverse law firm is critical to providing the quality of legal services our clients expect, to preserving our core values, and to nurturing our rich culture. We take this commitment to diversity seriously. To attract diverse law students, Alston & Bird recruits at more than 40 law school campuses and job fairs each year, including minority and diversity job fairs. We regularly participate in the Lavender Law Conference and Career Fair hosted by the National LGBT Bar Association, the Northeast Region of the National Black Law Students Association Job Fair, the Southeastern Minority Job Fair, and the Sunbelt Diversity Recruitment Program. The firm also supports diverse law student organizations around the country including but not limited to chapters of the Black Law Students Association, Latino/a Law Students Association, Hispanic Law Student Association, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, OUTLaw, Middle Eastern Law Students Association, and the South Asian Law Students Association. We also support scholarship events, including those hosted by the Emory Black Law Student Association, Harvard Black Law Students Association, Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, Leadership Institute for Women of Color Attorneys, and University of Pennsylvania Black Student League. We continued to emphasize diversity in our lateral recruiting efforts to reach diverse candidate pools. In 2022, our Attorney Hiring Team and D&I Team worked together closely to begin a regional diversity recruiting deep dive designed to evaluate the diversity at our feeder law schools and consider beginning or deepening relationships with law schools with diverse student bodies. This led to us working with diverse law student associations to sponsor events and host discussion panels such as, “Putting Your Best Foot Forward for Big Law Interviews” and conducting mock interview programs at those schools. This also led to the firm adding North Carolina Central University, an HBCU law school, to our on-campus interview program. In addition, this year the firm partnered with Legal Innovators, a talent management solution that focuses on placing diverse junior lawyers in first-rate law firms and corporate legal departments, we began hosting our first Legal Innovators Fellow in our Charlotte office. In 2022, the firm also decided to host a Sponsors for Educational Opportunities (SEO) Fellow in the summer of 2023. SEO offers scholarships, academic preparation, career development training and internship opportunities to talented, underrepresented incoming law students. As part of our continued commitment to diversity in leadership and in hiring, Alston & Bird achieved Mansfield Rule 5.0 Certification by Diversity Lab in 2022. Certification requires consideration of at least 30% women, lawyers from unrepresented racial and ethnic groups, lawyers with disabilities, and/or LGBTQ+ lawyers for 70% or more of the firm’s leadership roles, committees, activities, and lateral hires. We are currently participating in the 6.0 certification process. The firm’s efforts to increase diversity in our entry level and lateral hiring have yielded positive results:
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| Non-discrimination policy |
Consistent with its obligations as an equal opportunity employer, Alston & Bird strives to provide all attorneys and staff with a professional workplace that is free from discriminatory harassment by attorneys, staff, supervisors, coworkers, clients, vendors or other third parties. Alston & Bird’s Anti-Harassment and Professional Conduct Policy strictly prohibits all forms of harassment including slurs, jokes, or other verbal, graphic, or physical acts that demean someone’s race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, age, marital status, national origin, ancestry, disability, or veteran status. Engagement in any form of prohibited harassment is considered a form of misconduct and may result in disciplinary action up to and including termination of one’s employment or partnership. Furthermore, the firm may seek legal redress against anyone who engages in prohibited harassment, including attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the firm as a result of such activities. The process and procedures for the reporting and investigation of harassment and/or discrimination are lined out in Alston & Bird’s Firm Manual. These procedures include obligatory reporting by all attorneys and staff who are being harassed or are aware that someone else has been or is being harassed so the firm can become aware of and work to resolve the matters. |
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Diversity fellowships or scholarships |
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| Does your organization or office sponsor/offer a Diversity Fellowship or Scholarship? | Yes |
| If yes, is the program open to | 1L |
| Please provide a brief description of the program |
Alston & Bird offers a number of Diversity 1L Summer Fellowships with our clients during which 1L law students split their time working with the firm and with the client’s in-house legal team. In addition, as part of our Racial Justice Initiative, the firm is a sponsor of an Equal Justice Works Fellow currently doing racial justice work on tenant’s rights in South Carolina. |
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Affinity group information |
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| Does your organization or office have affinity groups? | Yes |
| If yes, please describe your affinity groups below |
The firm has the following Diverse Attorney Affinity Networks: Women of Color Attorneys, Asian-American Attorneys, Black Attorneys, Hispanic Attorneys, and LGBTQ+ Attorneys. These groups share information, create support, and meet at least quarterly to facilitate networking and mentoring opportunities. |