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Diversity and Inclusion

Recruiting and Retention

Diversity and inclusion are key components of the firm's recruiting and retention programs. In fact, Duane Morris is the 2012 recipient of the George B. Vashon Innovator Award presented by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) for innovative best practices by a law firm in Recruitment and Retention.

Duane Morris actively participates in diversity job fairs, including the MCCA/Vault Diversity Career Fair, the Philadelphia Area Minority Job Fair, the Southeastern Minority Job Fair and the Hispanic National Bar Association Annual Job Fair Program, for which it has been a major sponsor. The firm interviews at historically black law schools, including Howard University, Texas Southern University, Southern University and North Carolina Central University.

Duane Morris uses women- and/or minority-owned executive search/recruiting firms in connection with lateral hires. Our efforts at improving recruitment of diverse attorneys were also noted by the Vault/MCCA Guide to Law Firm Diversity Programs, which singled out Duane Morris for being one of "only a handful of firms that engage minority- and/or women-owned search firms for lateral recruitment." The firm's Chief Diversity Officer, Nolan N. Atkinson, Jr., has developed a network of recruiters who specialize in finding attorneys of color.

Duane Morris is also a full participant in the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group (PDLG), a consortium of major area law firms and corporations. This means that Duane Morris will hire a 1L student who comes from a diverse background for a summer clerkship at Duane Morris. Duane Morris is a founding member of PDLG, and Atkinson is the founder and former chair. Duane Morris counts among its permanent associates two diverse students from the PDLG program. In addition to the formal Duane Morris mentoring system, a requirement of all Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity - Recruiting and Retention

Committee members is to mentor one or two diverse associates in the firm. At Diversity and Inclusion Committee meetings, mentors provide feedback on how diverse associates are doing. The billable hours for each diverse associate are reviewed so that appropriate action can be taken. The goal of the committee is to be proactive and intervene whenever there is an associate who is experiencing difficulty for any reason.