Our Commitment to Diversity

Sheppard Mullin has a long-standing commitment to both increasing and sustaining diversity in the legal profession.  The Firm's Diversity Committee was established in the early 1990s to address a variety of critically important issues facing the legal profession and has sponsored numerous initiatives and programs to help fulfill our mission.  Sheppard Mullin is committed to providing quality training, mentoring, and opportunities for growth and business development to all of our attorneys, and especially understands the importance of these activities for diverse attorneys.

Because the Firm actively seeks to hire and maintain a team of attorneys that is both the best of the brightest and as diverse as the world in which we practice, two new positions were created and filled at Sheppard Mullin in 2007 – those of Chief Talent Officer and Manager of Diversity and Inclusion.  The Chief Talent Officer is responsible for leading all of the functions that affect the associate lifecycle: recruiting, performance and development, diversity and inclusion, and direct practice group support.  The Diversity Manager works closely with the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, its Chair and the Chief Talent Officer to manage and supports the Firm's existing diversity efforts and develop new internal and external diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Through its attorneys, the Firm has access to a broad referral network of minority lawyers and law firms as a result of widespread participation in minority bar association programs and activities.   

 We have been recognized for our efforts by:

• Multicultural Law magazine, which has named Sheppard Mullin as one of the "Top 100 Law Firms for Diversity" in 2008 and for four consecutive years since 2005, as well as the "Top 50 Law Firms for Partners", the "Top 100 Law Firms for Women", and the "Top 25 Law Firms for Hispanics" in 2007.  In 2006, the firm was ranked similarly for associates and for disabled Americans.
• The 2008 "Diversity Scorecard" published by the Minority Law Journal, which lists Sheppard Mullin among the top 100 law firms in the country when it comes to diversity.
• Receiving the first Law Firm Award from the Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles Foundation for our strong commitment to the promotion of community and pro bono activities.

Sheppard Mullin's commitment to diversity is reflected in the demographics of its leadership:

• The Firm's nine-member Executive Committee includes one woman partner.
• One of the Firm's practice group leaders is a woman.
• In 2007, four of the Firm's ten Office Administrative Partners (OAP) were women and one OAP is an openly gay male. 
• An African-American woman partner chairs the Firm's Diversity & Inclusion Committee, which includes three additional partners of color, two associates of color and five women attorneys.
• A minority woman partner is Deputy General Counsel of the Firm, and three women attorneys are members of the Firm's general counsel's office.
• A minority partner sits on the Firm's Retirement Committee.

The Firm's women attorneys provide leadership and support through ongoing activities and special programs.  Articles in the legal press have recognized our women attorney groups for unique networking and business development events designed for Sheppard Mullin's women attorneys and their clients.  The Associate Forum provides a vehicle for associates to provide firm-wide input and feedback to Firm management on important issues, as well as to the Diversity Committee.     

Some of the Firm's external activities include:

• Diversity Programs: The Firm sponsors and participates in the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, the ABA Minority Counsel Program, the ABA Commission on Women, and the California Minority Counsel Program, as well as diversity-oriented programs of the Association of Corporate Counsel, Minority Corporate Counsel Association, and Corporate Counsel Women of Color.  Our attorneys have served as panelists at diversity programs sponsored by the ABA, Los Angeles County Bar Association, and other organizations.  The Firm's Chairman represented the firm at a major diversity summit sponsored by the ABA and a women OAP was a featured speaker at a national conference on "Retaining & Developing Women Lawyers".
• Bar Associations: For many years, our attorneys have been active in the National Bar Association, Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Lambda Legal, National Lesbian & Gay Law Association and Lavender Law Job Fair, Mexican-American Bar Association, Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, California Association of Black Lawyers, Charles Houston Bar Association, Queens Bench, Asian Law Caucus, Langston Bar Association, Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, and Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. The firm's Diversity Committee Chair also serves on the Diversity Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
• The Firm sponsored the ABA Commission on "Women of Color Research Initiative," a study of the retention of women attorneys of color in law firms.
• The Firm helped underwrite the production of the motion picture entitled "Soul of Justice: The Life and Times of Thelton Henderson." The film chronicles the life of respected African-American jurist Thelton Henderson, a crusading civil rights litigator and role model.
• Each March, the Firm sponsors, and a number of its attorneys, staff and clients attend, the Annual Lanterns Award Luncheon, a mentoring program for Los Angeles area high school students organized jointly by Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, and Latina Lawyers Association.
• The Firm has sponsored, and its attorneys have been active in, various community organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League, Inwood House, Bilingual Foundation for the Arts, Equal Rights Advocates, Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, Hispanic Heritage Month, San Francisco Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Jewish Hospice Project, Orange County Hispanic Education Endowment Fund (HEEF) and the Arthritis Foundation.