Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:10:00
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| Article by:
Morgan Davis
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 Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati participates in Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s nationwide ‘Light the Night’ walk. Courtesy of WSG&R. |
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By Morgan Davis
February is known for being a month for recognition and celebration of diversity – a time to consider the achievements and the progress society has made and to look to goals yet accomplished. A time when community organizations are recognized, not only for having made diversity a pillar of their work, but for providing the groundwork for diversity to flourish in society … and in the future.
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati – WSGR – is one such organization that many say deserves recognition for the steps it has taken toward a more diverse landscape.
A relatively young law firm, founded in 1961 in Silicon Valley, WSGR represents technology and growth business enterprises worldwide. It has offices in Palo Alto and San Francisco, five other locations across the country and one in Shanghai, China.
The firm funnels its outreach into the community through the WSGR Foundation, which celebrates its 20th year in 2010. During the past two decades, the foundation has donated more than $8.6 million to more than 515 charitable organizations in the Bay Area and local communities near the firm’s national offices, according to its 2009 ProBono Annual Report.
Many of the organizations that receive WSGR support develop diversity initiatives nationwide, including the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, the Equal Justice Society and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. Several also are promoting diversity education here in the Bay Area, like the Museum of the African Diaspora and Oakland Asian Students Educational Services.
No stranger to diversity, WSGR boasts that more than a third of its partners and 60 percent of the firm’s associates are women or belong to a racial, ethnic or other minority group. In 2009, California Lawyer ranked Wilson Sonsini No. 1 for percentage of minority equity partners in the state, with 21.3 percent partners of color. Following six years of top rankings and two consecutive second-place finishes, the firm ranked No. 1 overall in Minority Law Journal’s Diversity Scorecard. According to the publication, its minority partner percentage nearly triples the survey average. In addition to achieving the overall top ranking, it was ranked No. 2 by percentage of minority attorneys (25.5 percent), No. 2 by percentage of minority partners (18 percent) and No. 3 by percentage of Asian American attorneys (17.6 percent) among the nation’s 250 largest and highest-grossing law firms.
When it comes to leadership at the firm, since 2002, more than 40 percent of the firm’s associates elevated to partner have been minorities and/or women. This comes at a time when minority leadership is hard to find in the industry. According to the California Bar Foundation Web site, although our state’s “overall population is more than 53 percent minority, only 17 percent of the State Bar membership and approximately 30 percent of California law students are minorities.”
Making sure these numbers grow, 2010 marks the third year of the California Bar Foundation’s Diversity Scholarship Program, which provides for more racial and ethnic diversity to enter the legal profession.
Along with the support of racial minority retainment and advancement, Wilson Sonsini also is dedicated to hiring and promoting its women employees. The firm was ranked in Working Mother’s 2009 list of the Top 50 Best Law Firms for Women. Its commitment to the LGBT community also has been recognized: in 2009, it received a top rating of 100 percent in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index. Ratings are based on factors such as non-discrimination policies, diversity training and benefits for domestic partners and transgender employees.
Completing Wilson Sonsini’s commitment to diversity is its goal to provide pro bono legal services to organizations whose missions reflect their own commitment to diversity. Recipients of Wilson Sonsini’s pro bono work promoting diversity include Bay Area organizations like the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Girls to Women and the International Museum of Women.
The 2010 application deadline for the California Bar Foundation Diversity Scholarships is June 16. For more information, contact Jasmine Guillory, Program Director, at jguillory@calbarfoundation.org. For more information about Wilson Sonsini, visit wsgr.com.
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