LEWIS AND ROCA LLP
COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY
The Lewis and Roca Culture.
Lewis and Roca recognizes that diversity is an integral component of a law
firm’s success strategy. The firm was formed on the basis of the deep-rooted
belief that a diverse environment can make a better, smarter, and stronger
law firm and a positive influence for the community as a whole. Diversity
encompasses race, color, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, gender
identity and expression, religion, nationality, age, disability, marital or
parental status, among other factors. Lewis and Roca strives for a diverse
group of talented legal professionals to encourage creative and effective
solutions. The firm’s strategic plan is grounded in the understanding that as
the firm incorporates a variety of perspectives, experiences, backgrounds,
talents and interest, Lewis and Roca will excel in providing unsurpassed
client service and satisfaction. As such, Lewis and Roca strives to promote a
culture of teamwork and mutual respect among all persons in the law firm.
A Legacy of Diversity.
Lewis and Roca’s commitment to diversity is longstanding and recognizes
the value diversity brings to the firm and its clients.
Prominent Women Partners. In 1973, Lewis and Roca became the first
mid-sized firm in the Rocky Mountain States to have a woman partner – Mary
Schroeder, now Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Likewise, Lewis and Roca is proud to have made partners women leaders
who now contribute their efforts in the public sector, including the current
Governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, Arizona Court of Appeals Judge, Pat
Norris, Maricopa County Superior Court Judges, Cathy Holt and Dawn
Bergin.
Lewis and Roca continues to provide resources and support to all of the
firm’s women lawyers, so that they can carry on the Lewis and Roca tradition
of contributing to the business and legal community. Just one example
includes the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce awarding the “2005
Businesswoman of the Year Athena Award” to Lewis and Roca partner and
the head of its Education Law practice group, Mary Ellen Simonson,
recognizing her excellence in business and leadership, her dedication to the
community and her support and mentorship of other women.
LEWIS AND ROCA LLP
COMMITTED TO DIVERSITY
Signatory to Arizona State Bar “Statement of Goals.” In June of 1992,
Lewis and Roca solidified its commitment to diversity matters when it
became a signatory to the Arizona State Bar’s “Statement of Goals” Program
aimed at encouraging the hiring, promotion and retention of women and
minority lawyers in the legal profession.
Diversity in the Firm’s Management and Leadership Structure. Lewis
and Roca’s management structure reflects how promotion and leadership is
open to its diverse workforce. The firm’s immediate past Managing Partner,
José Cárdenas, is one of a handful of Hispanics in the country - and the only
one in Arizona - to have served as Managing Partner of a major law firm. Mr.
Cárdenas continues to fill a prominent leadership position at Lewis and Roca,
serving as the first “Chair of the Firm.”
Women also play a prominent role in firm management. For example,
Frances Haynes serves as one of six members of the firm’s elected
governing body – the Policy Committee. The Policy Committee is
responsible for, among other things, setting compensation.
In addition, women head up a number of the firm’s practice groups, such as
Susan Freeman who leads the Bankruptcy/Creditor’s Rights & Finance
group, Marti Ashcraft who heads the firm’s Las Vegas group, Carla Consoli
who leads the firm’s Environmental & Natural Resources Law group, Amy
Altshuler who leads the firm’s Real Estate/Finance group, Jennifer Van Kirk
who co-leads the Intellectual Property, Frances Haynes who co-leads the
Construction group, Mary Ellen Simonson who leads the Education Law
group and co-leads the Labor and Employment group and Hope Leibsohn,
who leads the Wills and Trust group.
Other examples of Lewis and Roca’s diverse leadership and management
include Bryant Barber, an African American partner, who heads the firm’s
Public Finance Practice group, Lynne Adams, a woman partner, who chairs
the firm’s Hiring Committee, and Maria Spelleri, a Latina partner, who chairs
the firm’s Diversity Committee.
Reaffirming the Commitment to Diversity.
Lewis and Roca’s continuing efforts to leverage its history of diversity forms
an integral component of the firm’s strategic plan. Lewis and Roca’s
strategic plan:
LEWIS AND ROCA LLP
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(1) emphasizes diversity as a truly differentiating factor in meeting the needs
of the market to provide unsurpassed client service satisfaction, and
(2) reinforces the firm’s culture of teamwork and mutual respect, in
recognition that being part of a diverse and professional community
strengthens each member’s commitment to each other and to the firm. In
furtherance of its tradition of valuing and supporting diversity to bring the
highest level of service to its clients, Lewis and Roca is actively engaging in
the following diversity efforts:
Diversity Committee. To ensure that its commitment to diversity remains
strong, Lewis and Roca established a formal Diversity Committee in 2005
and charged it with preserving and advancing the firm’s historic commitments
to diversity and the quality of life for firm lawyers and staff. Specifically,
Diversity Committee efforts include:
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Analyzing the firm’s historical diversity practices;
Identifying current firm needs and promoting specific diversity
initiatives;
Developing formal goals, tools, procedures and programs to
further the firm’s diversity initiatives;
Overseeing implementation of diversity programs;
Monitoring and measuring the results of the firm’s diversity
initiatives; and
Evaluating and reporting the success of existing programs
based on objective criteria.
Diversity Goals. Our firm’s diversity development programs aim to:

Increase diversity at the firm by recruiting new diverse
candidates through our summer program and through lateral
hiring;

Retain, develop and promote existing diverse lawyers at the
firm through personal and focused mentorship and training
plans as part of our Lawyer Professional and Practice
Development Program;

Increase the pipeline of diverse candidates in the local law
schools through scholarship, mentoring and training programs
for diverse students.
LEWIS AND ROCA LLP
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
Support and contribute to diversity efforts of the state and local
bar organizations, law students associations and broader
community.
Highlighted below are some of our development programs, specifically aimed
to increase diversity in our firm, the legal profession and our broader
community.
Hiring Initiatives. Lewis and Roca supports and participates in programs
that facilitate the hiring of talented, diverse lawyers. Additionally, the firm
supports a variety of efforts that increase the opportunities available to
women and minority law students and aim to increase diversity in the pool of
candidates from which the firm hires.
Sponsor and Participant, Women and Minority Law School
Associations: Lewis and Roca proactively seeks to establish relationships
with women and minority law students at law schools throughout the country,
with specific emphasis at local law schools. The firm supports a variety of
educational and developmental programs, such as sponsoring and
participating in The Council on Legal Education Opportunity Summer
Institutes when held at local law schools.
Long-Standing Participant, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Minority
Job Fairs: Lewis and Roca has been a long-standing participant in the E.I.
du Pont de Nemours & Co. Minority Job Fair since its inception in Delaware.
As this job fair has expanded to additional locations in Los Angeles and
Texas, Lewis and Roca has continued to support minority hiring and is a
regular participant in the Los Angeles and Texas locations. Lewis and Roca
has successfully hired attorneys recruited from these minority job fairs, one
of which is now a partner at the firm.
Sponsor, IMPACT Career Fair: In 2005, Lewis and Roca was a proud
co-sponsor of the first annual IMPACT Career Fair for law students and
attorneys with disabilities. The firm is committed to participating in this fair in
the future.
Annual Sponsor and Participant, Minority Legal Writing Programs:
Lewis and Roca is a long-time supportor (since 1992) of the Minority Legal
Writing Program at Arizona State University and the more recent Minority
Legal Writing Program at the University of Arizona. Through these
programs, Lewis and Roca provides semester-long, paid internships to
minority law students. The firm’s efforts to nurture the success of budding
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minority lawyers includes coordinating on their behalf a regimen of intensive
writing training and one-on-one supervision, which is coupled with a broader
program of educational and professional development opportunities for these
candidates.
Contributor and Participant, Pipeline Program: Recognizing the need
to increase the pipeline of diverse candidates graduating from law schools
and to increase diversity in the corporate and legal communities of Arizona,
Lewis and Roca is supporting The National Bar Association, Commercial
Law Section’s Diversity Pipeline Programs for minority law students
attending Arizona State University, University of Arizona or Phoenix Law.
The Pipeline Program is an intensive training program that mentors a class of
students before they enter law school through graduation, providing a PreLaw Prep Course, a 1st Year Trial Court Internship, a 2nd Year In-House
Internship, a 2nd Year - Life as a Lawyer Career Development and
Management Boot Camp Course and a 3rd Year “Give Back High School
Advocates” Program.
Retention and Promotion Initiatives. The firm values and invests heavily
in the training and promotion of all its personnel to provide unsurpassed
client service and satisfaction. As such, retaining skilled personnel at all
levels is a priority of the firm. In keeping with the firm’s support of all
individuals, the firm provides alternative work schedules for attorneys and
staff.
Additionally, Lewis and Roca is currently implementing a Lawyer
Development Program for its lawyers. The program is designed to provide
resources and support to facilitate the development of the skills and
competencies that the firm believes are essential for superior performance as
a Lewis and Roca lawyer. These resources and support range from tailored
guidelines for lawyers in different practice areas and at different stages in
their careers, education and training opportunities, support for assuming
leadership opportunities in the community, mentoring, and executive
coaching. Through such efforts, Lewis and Roca proactively assists lawyers
in establishing a solid foundation, clarifying firm expectations, allocating firm
resources, and actively managing lawyer development from an associate’s
first year at the firm through promotion to partnership.
The Lawyer Development Program recognizes that individuals develop along
different paths, at different speeds, and with different degrees of
specialization. Its purpose is to help and invest in lawyers to develop along
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the path that best integrates the lawyer’s individual goals with the firm’s
practice.
With this program, Lewis and Roca can recognize and actively manage, on
an individualized basis, the unique and often overlooked challenges that
women and minority lawyers often experience in large law firms in order to
ensure that the firm properly invests its resources to retain and promote its
talented and diverse lawyers.
Community Leadership Initiatives. Lewis and Roca also seeks to bring
diversity to the firm by encouraging its lawyers and staff to take an active role
in the community and the bar. The firm supports their efforts to do so and
often extends additional firm resources in this regard. Lewis and Roca
lawyers and staff are committed to a variety of charitable, pro bono, and
community activities and serve on many non-profit, bar association, and
minority bar boards and committees. Listed below are a few of the activities
in which Lewis and Roca is proud to participate:
Judicial Intern Opportunity Program. In partnership with other Arizona
firms, Lewis and Roca is among the inaugural sponsors of an exciting
program for Arizona law students – the Judicial Intern Opportunity Program,
which matches minority and low-income students with federal and state
judges for a six-week summer internship experience. This program,
sponsored by the American Bar Association, has been successful in Chicago
and Miami, and Lewis and Roca is honored to participate in supporting its
expansion.
ADL Peer Training Program. Lewis and Roca led a Law Firm Initiative
to fund The Anti-Defamation League - A World of Difference Institutes’ Peer
Training Program for two years at 5 local high schools. The Peer Training
Program consists of a year-long program that provides practical, experiential,
hands-on training for middle school and high school students to develop
skills to challenge prejudice and discrimination.
Arizona Women’s Association Secrets of Success. Lewis and Roca is
also proud to be among the inaugural sponsors of the Arizona Women
Lawyers Association's new Secrets of Success program, an annual seminar
for law students and young lawyers that provides insider tips on succeeding
in private practice as a woman. The program is designed to address the
critical problem of attrition among women lawyers at large law firms and from
the private practice of law by providing students and young lawyers with an
orientation to the unwritten rules of success in private practice as well as tips
LEWIS AND ROCA LLP
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for business development, presenting oneself professionally, and work-life
balance.
Judicial Outreach Seminar. Recognizing the fact that there is
insufficient minority representation on the bench, Lewis and Roca along with
the Pima County Commission on Trial Court Appointments and the Arizona
Minority Bar Association organized a seminar (1) to teach attorneys about
the judicial selection process and how best to approach it, and (2) to reach
out to minority lawyers and law students to encourage them to become
judges and to inform them what they need to do now and in the future to
become a judge.
Contributions and Support of the Arizona State Leadership Institute,
Minority Bars and Law Student Associations. Lewis and Roca believes in
organizations that encourage and address the needs of its current and future
diverse lawyers. As such, Lewis and Roca has proudly supported events,
scholarships and seminars for organizations such as the Arizona State Bar
Leadership Institute, the Arizona State Minority Bar Convention and
Scholarship Banquet, the Arizona Women Lawyers Association Wine and
Cheese Reception and Lorna Lockwood Judicial Reception, Los Abogados
Hispanic Bar Annual Comedy Show, National Native American Law Students
Association and Chicano Latino Law Students Association.
Community Support. Lewis and Roca gets involved in the community.
Currently, we have 51 attorneys who serve in leadership positions as
directors and officers on the governing boards of over 90 nonprofit and
governmental community agencies. Our lawyers and staff volunteer their
time and efforts in a variety of ways in addition to services on boards,
including providing pro bono legal services (5,272 hours in 2006) and
fundraising for charitable purposes. Lewis and Roca supports these efforts.
To foster a more vibrant diverse community, Lewis and Roca has been a
proud sponsor and contributor to organizations and events such as the
Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Phoenix Urban
League, the YWCA – Tribute to Women, the Cesar E. Chavez Foundation,
the Chicanos Por La Causa, the Arizona Women’s Education and
Employment, the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Athena Awards,
the Tucson Commercial Real Estate Women, the Fresh Start Women’s
Foundation, the Arizona Women’s Leadership Conference, the Women’s
Foundation of Southern Arizona, the Phoenix Women’s Commission
International Women’s Day, the Phoenix Indian Center Gala, the Navajo
Nation and the Spokae Tribe.