Diversity
Recruitment

Dewey & LeBoeuf recognizes the importance of identifying and attracting the best talent to the firm. In 2003, both Dewey Ballantine and LeBoeuf Lamb signed the New York City Bar Association's Statement of Diversity Principles, which publicly renewed each firm's long-standing commitment to promote a more diverse and inclusive workplace. 

To support our diversity efforts, the firm actively:

• Supports and attends on-campus events sponsored by law school affinity groups, including the Black Law Students Association (BLSA), Latin American Law Students Association (LALSA), Asian Pacific American Law Students Association (APALSA) and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) organization OutLaw;
• Sponsors and participates in national minority/diversity job fairs that include Northeast Black Law Students Association (NEBLSA), Mid-Atlantic Black Law Students Association (MABLSA), Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA), MCCA/Vault Diversity Job Fair, Lavender Law Conference and the IMPACT career fair for students and attorneys with disabilities; and
• Sponsors annual grants to Harvard, Columbia, Fordham, Georgetown, New York University and the University of Pennsylvania law schools to provide scholarships for students from under represented populations and to fund diversity-related activities.

With the goal of raising the representation of minority candidates in the firm's summer and first-year associate programs, Dewey & LeBoeuf will continue its involvement with pipeline organizations which include:

Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO)

 

"We value our partnership with Dewey & LeBoeuf and deeply appreciate its leadership in developing our two-week law school preparatory program. Through its consistent support at every level of the firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf  has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to diversity."

William A. Goodloe
President and CEO
Sponsors for Educational Opportunity

 

SEO provides pre-law students of color with the opportunity to intern at prestigious law firms and financial institutions, with the goal of giving students an introduction to corporate law prior to their first year of law school. Every summer, we introduce SEO interns to the legal field through firm internships. Interns have the opportunity to work with partners and associates in real-life situations. Our firm was instrumental in the development of the program's Corporate Law Institute in 2005, an intense two-week law school preparatory program. The firm also played an active role in assisting SEO in further strengthening the legal writing and exam-taking portion of the Institute by helping secure professors such as Peggy Davis of New York University School of Law, who agreed to teach a workshop for the Institute.

 

In 2007, we created a fellowship program specifically for graduates of the SEO program. Through this program, first-year law students have the opportunity to gain on-the-job experience in public interest or international law.

 

Public interest fellows have the chance to work at prominent advocacy organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund. International fellows are given the opportunity to work for six to eight weeks in the firm's London office.

 

Dewey & LeBoeuf has benefited from its involvement with the SEO program. For two consecutive years, we have welcomed a past SEO intern as a first year associate. As a result of our success, next summer, Dewey & LeBoeuf will be one of the founding firms to participate in SEO's Washington DC and UK Corporate Law program.

 

Practicing Attorneys for Law Students (PALS)

 

Founded in 1984 to provide career information, programming and mentoring for minority law students and associates, PALS supports students from 13 New York metropolitan law schools including NYU, Columbia, Brooklyn and Fordham. Through the firm's partnership with PALS, Dewey & LeBoeuf has the opportunity to sponsor and participate in programs that support the recruitment, development and retention of minority law students and attorneys. Donna Gordon, a litigation partner with the firm, currently serves on the PALS Board of Directors.

 

New York City Bar Minority Fellowship Program

 

The Minority Fellowship Program is a highly competitive program that places first-year law students of color from the 11 New York City law schools with law firms and corporate law departments. It is sponsored by the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers through the New York City Bar Association. With the support of Janis Meyer, Chair of the New York City Bar's Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers and a member of the firm's Diversity Committee, Dewey & LeBoeuf will sponsor one fellow during the summer of 2008.

 

Lateral Recruiting Efforts

 

Dewey & LeBoeuf seeks to hire diverse lawyers in all stages of their careers. The firm has a full-time Manager of Lateral Recruiting who works closely with the firm's Manager of Diversity Initiatives, the Diversity Committee and practice heads to strengthen Dewey & LeBoeuf's lateral diversity efforts.  Together, they look for new opportunities to attract diverse lateral candidates, work with specialized minority recruiters as a referral source for lateral attorneys, regularly review their past efforts and look for means to improve the diversity of the firm at all levels.

 

As of November 2007, the firm's lateral partner hires are 16 percent minority and 4 percent LGBT, while our associate lateral hires are 28 percent minority, 31 percent women and 2 percent LGBT. Our counsel new lateral hires for 2007 are 20 percent minority. They were hired between January and November of 2007.