The Kansas City Office of 70 attorneys has been extraordinarily successful in recruiting and retaining diverse associates and lateral partners. 

The office has a diverse makeup that includes an African-American partner, and two African-American associates, a visually-impaired partner, one Asian-American partner and an Asian-American associate, a lesbian partner, and an Hispanic associate.  Moreover, the office has five female partners, three female of counsel, and sixteen female associates.

The office’s diversity committee sponsors and hosts an annual reception for diverse law students from the University of Kansas, University of Missouri-Kansas City, University of Missouri, and Washburn University law schools.  It is also a founding sponsor and participant in the annual Heart of America Diversity Law Employment Fair.  This past summer the committee hosted a women’s event for women lawyers in the firm and women clients.  The committee is hosting this fall a seminar and reception for Lambda Legal Foundation.  The Kansas City office is one of the charter members and signatories of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s “Commitment to Diversity.”

The committee’s purposes are to ensure that diverse associates are mentored and trained on a continuous basis, and generally brought into the fabric of the firm, both professionally and socially.   Jim Heeter, the office’s managing partner, was the recipient of the firm’s first annual Duane Quaini Diversity Award for his outstanding contribution to firm diversity by successfully recruiting four diverse lateral partners to the Kansas City Office from other Kansas City law firms.

The committee acts proactively at the local level to keep the firm’s diversity agenda in the forefront, anticipate and identify any issues related to diverse attorneys and staff members that may arise, and preempt or allay concerns about diversity issues.  The committee assists and counsels the office’s managing partner and hiring committee on lateral and law school hiring.  The committee also advises the office’s practice group leaders on opportunities for diverse associates’ growth and training.  In this vein, this year associate Dolly Livingston was chosen to participate in the Ross Roberts Inns of Court.