Law Firm Diversity & Inclusion Programs

A diverse, inclusive culture helps us innovate, bring fresh perspectives to our clients and attract extraordinary team members. We also believe it’s the right thing to do.

For nearly a decade, we have driven sustainable change in our industry and communities and are a recognized leader in workplace diversity. Everyone has an opportunity to succeed through equal access to client development activities, rewarding work assignments and viable advancement options. We’re particularly proud of our:

Comprehensive policies and programming that allow us to attract, nurture, retain and promote top talent from a wide range of backgrounds.
Participation in programs that support diverse lawyers with tailored career and business development opportunities.
Robust Justice, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (JDEI) plan that emphasizes our commitment to equality, building on existing advocacy, celebration and education programs.

RACIAL & ETHNIC DIVERSITY

We prioritize knocking down barriers facing our team members of color. It starts with hiring and promotion policies, from expanding our pool of diverse job candidates to matching lawyers of color with partner mentors to propel their career growth.

Our Diversity Fellowship Program enables select first-year law students to participate in our summer associate program, and our retention and promotion initiatives aim to help all racially and ethnically diverse lawyers succeed.

We’re also helping to knock down barriers in the market. Our McDermott Rise program provides a set of free legal and business services to Black founders and other entrepreneurs of color every year, with the goal of helping launch or scale their endeavors. We are also a founding member of the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, which now includes more than 285 member firms.

GENDER EQUITY

We rank among the 50 Best Law Firms for Women in Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers.

We continually generate fresh policies and initiatives that drive the acceptance and understanding of gender differences. And we recruit, retain and promote the most talented lawyers and business professionals, regardless of gender.

To create a supportive workplace, our benefits include maternity leave and reduced-time policies, parental and caregiver leave options, and equitable promotion guidelines. We offer targeted coaching and mentoring, plus opportunities to network and discuss the legal industry’s unique challenges.

LGTBQ+ INCLUSION

We are proud to be a recognized leader in LGBTQ+ workplace diversity and inclusion: Our Mansfield 4.0 Certification reinforces our commitment to hiring, retaining and promoting LGBTQ+ leaders, and we have scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality for 16 consecutive years.

We actively bolster equality within and outside our Firm, recruiting LGBTQ+ candidates and forming pro bono partnerships with LGBTQ+ nonprofits. We also regularly sponsor and donate to a variety of events for LGBTQ+ organizations.

Our LGBTQ+ committee, one of the first to be established in an international firm, works to ensure a supportive, inclusive environment. In 2002, we extended domestic partner benefits to same-sex partners, more than a decade before marriage equality was granted across the US. We adopted a nondiscrimination policy inclusive of transgender people in 2006, followed shortly afterward by gender transition guidelines to support transgender lawyers and business professionals.

YOU BELONG AT McDERMOTT

RACIAL & ETHNIC DIVERSITY

GENDER EQUITY

LGTBQ+ INCLUSION

YOU BELONG AT
McDERMOTT